THE 2022 Cadbury Series got underway in New Zealand overnight, with some exciting action in the first night’s games of the round robin tournament.

New Zealand Men take down the Mixed Invitational side

After getting the upper hand in the opening quarter, the New Zealand Men have gone on to defeat the New Zealand Mixed Invitational side 39 goals to 37.

The Men lead by a healthy six goals at quarter time, but by the time half time came around their lead had stretched out to 10 goals.

Although the Mixed Invitational side won the second half by two goals, it was not enough as the Men held on for the eight goal win.

For the New Zealand Men’s side, Jay Geldard shot the bulk of his side’s goals, but he was not the most accurate of his side’s shooters. That honour went to Daniel Jefferies, who only missed one shot all game.

The shooters were well fed by Kruze Tangira (19 feeds and 11 goal assists) and Joshua Eriat Vercoe (18 feeds and six goal assists).

Meanwhile for the Mixed side, Quintin Gerber was the main source of their goals (28 from 34 attempts), and was well supplied by the likes Maddy Gordon (20 feeds and eight goal assists) and Georgia Heffernan (12 feeds and 10 goal assists).

Silver Ferns convincing winners over New Zealand A

The Silver Ferns have started their preparations for the Commonwealth Games in scintillating form, defeating the New Zealand A side 67 to 48.

The Silver Ferns lead by five at quarter time, and although the A side won the second quarter, they only won it by two so the Ferns still lead at the main break.

After that the Silver Ferns really put the foot down, winning the third quarter by nine and almost doubling the scoring of the A side for the fourth quarter to ultimately finish up winning by 19 goals.

Despite the dominant win, the Silver Ferns’ shooters’ accuracy was down, with only Maia Wilson (18 goals from 19 attempts) the only one for the four to finish with an accuracy higher then 80 percent.

However, Whitney Souness (36 feeds and 16 goal assists) and Gina Crampton (21 feeds and 15 goal assists) did have great games and were workhorses through the midcourt.

Meanwhile for the A side, Tiana Metuarau only missed one shot for the night, and was well fed in the circle by the likes of Elisapeta Toeava (36 feeds and 17 goal assists) and Samantha Winders (20 feeds and 10 goal assists).