NZ win netball Fast5 title, Australia 3rd

New Zealand have won the Fast5 Netball World Series title at Melbourne Arena, claiming the gold medal for the seventh time.

The Kiwis defeated Jamaica in a thrilling 34-33 decider, after going down to them earlier in the day by one point.

Australia defeated Malawi for the second time in the tournament to claim third place.

Group losses to New Zealand and England prevented the home side from qualifying for the decider.

England's 29-28 day two win hurt Australia the most - it was their only victory in the regular rounds of the competition.

With a strong percentage, Australia would have finished the preliminary rounds first with the win against England to guarantee a rematch and final against New Zealand.

Australian captain Sam Poolman was disappointed to miss out on the decider.

"We were really hoping to be the first Aussie group to win a Fast5 title so it's disappointing not to have finished up in the gold medal match, but that's the beauty of Fast5 and we're all honoured to have been representing the country this weekend," she said.

For New Zealand, who have struggled at times this year in the game's full format, it was a boost to snare a title.

"This win is a really nice way to end our journey for this year, especially moving forward with momentum into next season and the World Cup," New Zealand captain Sulu Fitzpatrick said.

"With adversity comes growth and change, so we're really proud of what we did this weekend."

For Jamaica, it marked consecutive years finishing second after last year's runner-up place to England.

"I'm so proud of the girls and what they did out there. They played their hearts out and we were just unlucky to unfortunately go down by that one point," captain Romelda Aitken said.