[Remember to refresh the page for latest updates]
Silver Ferns 48-41 South Africa
Fourth Quarter:
FULLTIME - It wasn't pretty, but the Silver Ferns have walked away with a gritty 48-41 win over South Africa. That was the Ferns' toughest match of the tournament by far. South Africa can hold their heads high for a good performance, but poor shooting and turnovers cost them. New Zealand will play Jamaica or England in Monday's final, join us tomorrow morning for live updates of that match. SF 48-41 RSA
1 min - Final minute of the game. SF 48-41 RSA
2 min - More wild passing from South Africa gifts the Ferns possession. Safe to say the Kiwis will hang on here. SF 47-40 RSA
4 min - Selby-Rickit scors again and the Kiwis lead by seven again. SF 46-39 RSA
5 min - Ine-Mari Venter misses a wild shot, that's what you call an air ball, and that miss hands the Ferns the ball and they can extend their lead. Those are the chances South Africa have to take. SF 45-39 RSA
6 min - Still a four-goal lead for the Ferns. SF 43-39 RSA
8 min - Both teams going blow-fo-blow now, but the Ferns still lead by four. SF 42-38 RSA
9 min - Once again, South Africa can't take advantage of their oportunitites and the Ferns are hanging on here. SF 41-36 RSA
11 min - Another missed chance from South Africa as Selby-Rickit cleans up Wilson's miss. SF 39-35 RSA
12 min - South Africa has a chance to make it a one-goal game, but they turn the ball over and New Zealand go and score their first of the quarter. SF 38-35 RSA
13 min - The Proteas open the scoring to start the quarter. SF 37-35 RSA
15 minutes to play - South Africa get the quarter started. Maia Wilson is back on the court.
Third Quarter:
QT - The Silver Ferns will take a three-goal lead into the final quarter. South Africa dominated the third and managed to draw back level, but NZ pulled away late. A massive quarter coming up. SF 37-34 RSA
1 min - South Africa make their first mistake of the quarter and the Ferns now lead by three heading into the final minute of the quarter. SF 36-33 RSA
3 min - The Ferns doing enough to keep that one-goal buffer, but South Africa go straight down the court to level things up. SF 33-33 RSA
5 min - Now South Africa are down by one and they have the ball from the centre pass. They were down at seven at one stage. SF 31-31 RSA
6 min - It's now a two-goal game. South Africa are fighting back. SF 31-29 RSA
7 min - The gap is now three as Ine-Mari Venter lands a long-range bomb. SF 31-28 RSA
9 min - Wilson comes off for Te Paea Selby-Rickit. SF 30-25 RSA
10 min - The Ferns have been quite sloppy to start the quarter here, but South Africa are not taking their chances. SF 29-24 RSA
12 min - Wilson struggling in this match. She's now missed four shots now. She did get NZ's first of the quarter though. SF 28-22 RSA
13 min - Back-to-back goals to South Africa to stat the quarter. SF 27-22 RSA
15 minutes to play - New Zealand get the second half started.
Second Quarter:
HALFTIME - From the standard we've seen at the tournament so far, that was probably one of the Ferns' more disapointing quarters, but they still lead by seven at the break. While it hasn't been pretty, this has probably been their toughest game so far in terms of intensity. SF 27-20 RSA
1 min - Final minute of the half. SF 26-20 RSA
3 min - The Ferns get their six-goal advantage back. SF 24-18 RSA
4 min - The Ferns turn the ball over, but Wilson misses the go-ahead shot. South Africa with some more slick passing and go down the court. But the Ferns steal the ball and no mistake from Wislon this time. SF 23-18 RSA
6 min - A couple of great plays for South Africa sees them cut the lead to three. Playing more pace and energy. SF 21-18 RSA
8 min - Wilson is now 15/17 as the Ferns now lead by six. SF 20-14 RSA
10 min - Took nearly five minutes, but South Africa finally score this quarter. SF 18-13 RSA
11 min - The Ferns now lead by seven afer scoring four-straight goals to start the quarter. SF 18-11 RSA
12 min - Both teams go up and down the court but no goals scored. That's until Ekenasio gets her fourth of the game. SF 17-11 RSA
14 min - Wilson gets the first goal of the quarter. SF 15-11 RSA
15 minutes to play - South Africa get the second quarter started. Karan Burger gets on the court in place of Phoenix Karaka.
First Quarter:
QT - The quarter ends with Wilson getting her 11th goal of the match. Ekenasio missed and easy shot, but Wilson got the rebound. The Kiwis lead by three. SF 14-11 RSA
2 min - New Zealand holding onto that three goal lead. South Africa's shooting has let them down, only at 75 percent in this quarter. SF 12-9 RSA
4 min - Wilson misses her first shot. She was standing on one foot and looked off balance. South Africa go down the court and score. SF 10-7 RSA
5 min - The Ferns hit double digits. South Africa are being very sloppy with the ball. Wilson has made all eight of her shots. SF 10-6 RSA
7 min - After a few minutes without a goal, South Africa finally score again. SF 8-6 RSA
8 min - Ameliaranne Ekenasio misses her first shot of the game, but there is a late whistle so Wilson gets the ball and scores. The Kiwis lead by three. SF 8-5 RSA
9 min - And just like that, New Zealand leads for the first time today as Wilson lands a couple more goals. SF 6-5 RSA
11 min - South Africa doing enough to retain that two-goal advantage, but the Ferns remain in touching distance. SF 3-5 RSA
12 min - Lenize Potgieter lands her first goal of the game. WIlson gets a second for the Kiwis. SF 2-4 RSA
13 min - Maia Wilson scores New Zealand's first of the game. Lefébre Rademan is 3/3 so far for South Africa. SF 1-3 RSA
14 min - An early turnover gives South Africa possession and they score a couple of early goals. SF 0-2 RSA
15 minutes to play - The Silver Ferns get the match started. Kimiora Poi - in her first start - gets things underway.
3:32am - National anthems are done. It's game time.
3:14am - Here is South Africa's side. GS: Lenize Potgieter, GA: Lefébre Rademan, WA: Bongiwe Msomi, C: Rome Dreyer, WD: Shadine van der Merwe, GD: Karla Pretorius, GK: Phumza Maweni.
3:10am - Here is the Silver Ferns' starting team. A couple of changes from the last two. GS: Maia Wilson, GA: Ameliaranne Ekenasio, WA: Gina Crampton, C: Kimiora Poi, WD: Shannon Saunders, GD: Phoenix Karaka, GK: Jane Watson.
Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the 2020 Nations Cup match between the NZ Silver Ferns and South Africa at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
A win against the Proteas will see the Ferns head into Monday's final having won all three group games.
New Zealand opened their campaign with a 64-48 win over England, before demolishing Jamaica 71-45 on Thursday.
For South Africa, they're playing for pride having already lost to Jamaica and England.
The Silver Ferns head into this tournament without many familiar faces, with the self-titled 'Fossils' group of Laura Langman and defender Katrina Rore, also taking a break, and shooter Maria Folau and defender Casey Kopua, who have both retired since last year's World Cup triumph.
Ameliaranne Ekenasio will lead New Zealand, with defender Jane Watson and midcourt Gina Crampton serving as vice-captains.
Silver Ferns: Bailey Mes, Ameliaranne Ekenasio (c), Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Maia Wilson, Gina Crampton (vc), Shannon Saunders, Kimiora Poi, Whitney Souness, Karin Burger, Phoenix Karaka Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, Jane Watson (vc).
South Africa: Ine-Marí Venter, Lenize Potgieter, Lefébre Rademan, Sigi Burger, Bongi Msomi (c), Izette Griesel, Romé Dreyer, Khanyisa Chawane, Phumza Maweni, Shadine van der Merwe, Zanele Vimbela and Karla Pretorius.
Pre-match banter: Silver Ferns remain unbeaten at Nations Cup, routing Jamaica
The Silver Ferns remain unbeaten at the Nations Cup after an emphatic 71-45 win over Jamaica in Birmingham on Thursday (NZ time).
Shooter Maia Wilson led the way with a career-high 42 goals, while captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Te Paea Selby-Rickit chipped in with 18 and 11 respectively.
The Ferns headed into the match having lost their last three encounters to the 'Sunshine Girls', including the bronze medal match at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which Jamaica won 60-55.
After beating England 64-48 in their Nations Cup opener in Nottingham on Monday, Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua named an unchanged starting lineup, which paid off despite a slow start.
Jamaica jumped out to an early lead on the back of some great shooting by Jhaniele Fowler, but New Zealand eventually fought their way back to lead 18-11 at quarter time.
Jamaica opened the term with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to just two points midway through the quarter.
But the Sunshine Girls only managed to score two more goals in the rest of the quarter, as the Ferns found themselves leading 32-22 at halftime.
The Ferns stamped their authority on the match in the third quarter, limiting Jamaica to nine goals and holding a 51-31 lead heading into the final quarter.
With the result beyond doubt, Taurua was able to give her extended squad members game time.
New Zealand pulled away even more in the final stanza and eventually came away with a 26-goal win, their biggest win since beating Northern Ireland at last year's Netball World Cup.
The Ferns are missing 562 test caps worth of experience from the self-titled 'Fossils' core of Laura Langman and defender Katrina Rore - both taking a break - and shooter Maria Folau and defender Casey Kopua, who have both retired since last year's World Cup triumph.
