Shambolic Silver Ferns fall to Malawi

New Zealand's netballers have suffered one of the biggest upsets in Commonwealth Games history with a 57-53 humiliation by Malawi.

The Silver Ferns, tipped to play Australia in the gold medal match, suffered heavily for a shambolic third quarter to leave their medal hopes hanging in the balance.

It's the first time Malawi, whose players danced in delight on court after the triumph, have ever beaten New Zealand.

The loss means the Kiwis now have to beat England in pool play to be assured of a place in the top four, and a shot at the play-offs.

A four-goal rally right on halftime for New Zealand's lead to open out to 32-25 at the break but they paid the price for a disastrous third term.

The Ferns looked comfortable in opening out a 10-goal lead midway through the spell but with Mwai Kumwenda in spectacular form, Malawi launched a stirring comeback which earned them a 42-41 lead going into the final quarter.

It was a lead that a determined and stubborn Malawi, who lost to minnows Uganda in an earlier pool game, were never going to concede.

The Silver Ferns now have one loss to go with earlier big wins over Wales (70-44) and Uganda (64-51), and face Scotland on Monday before Wednesday's key clash against England.