Jamaica will continue their hunt for an elusive Commonwealth Games netball gold medal when they face New Zealand in today’s final at the Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Sunshine Girls booked back-to-back appearances in the final after edging defending champions Australia 46-45 in a thrilling semi-final on Saturday, ending the Australians’ streak of reaching every Commonwealth Games final.

Today’s title match will be a rematch of the Pool B meeting, which New Zealand won 53-48. The Kiwis will be seeking a third Commonwealth Games title after winning back-to-back gold medals in 2006 and 2010.

Australia and England will meet in the bronze medal match after New Zealand beat England 61-54 in the other semi-final.

The Sunshine Girls produced one of their best performances in recent years, avenging the heartbreak of losing to Australia in the Birmingham final four years ago. Jamaica’s defence stifled the usually prolific Australians in the closing minutes, with Sophie Dwyer missing two shots in the final two minutes, including one at the buzzer that would have forced extra time.

Led by the shooting of Romelda Aiken-George and Shanice Beckford, Jamaica opened a 46-42 lead with just over three-and-a-half minutes remaining before Australia scored three unanswered goals to close the gap.

Dwyer also missed an opportunity to cut Australia’s deficit to three goals with 2:16 left before her final miss sparked wild celebrations among the Jamaican players and supporters.

Jamaica led 13-10 after the first quarter and 23-21 at half-time before Australia levelled the scores at 35-35 heading into the final quarter. Australia then took a 38-37 lead early in the fourth before Jamaica regained control.

Aiken-George led Jamaica with 29 goals from 32 attempts, while Beckford scored 17 from 18.

Kiera Austin scored 22 goals from 23 attempts for Australia, Cora Koenen added 18 from 20, Sophie Garbin scored four, and Dwyer finished with one goal.