The tournament, being held at the Hisense Arena, is the only international trophy to elude the hosts while New Zealand’s Fast5 Ferns have dominated since its inception, winning the gold medal on home soil in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Today's action was brought to a close on a high for the home crowd, however, as the Australian's came out on top after a hard fought battle to finish day one as the only undefeated team.

Maria Tutaia shot a stunning 18 points throughout New Zealand’s power play in the third quarter but it was not good enough as the Australians took advantage of their own in the fourth period to snatch victory.

"I’m really happy with how the girls played today," said Australian captain Susan Pettitt.

"We had a tough match against Malawi at the start of the day but to finish with a win over New Zealand was an awesome way to wrap up the day."

Australia began their campaign with a nail-biting 24-23 win over the African nation Malawi before dominating Jamaica 35-19.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand collected two wins in very different styles.

The Kiwis edged past England 36-35 first before asserting their class on South Africa with a comfortable 49-20 win.

Jamaica, meanwhile, managed to resist a South African comeback to steal their match 35-32 before being thumped by Malawai in game seven 46-12.

The Malawians were then brought back down to earth as they were beaten by England 43-22.

Power plays influenced a number of matches throughout the day and in game eight South Africa made the most of theirs to steal a draw with England after a three-point super shot in the dying seconds.

The second and final day of the series is tomorrow due to see teams battle it out for a place in the evening's grand final.