The Kiwis won their semi-final in front of a packed Harbour Hockey Stadium and will now take on the winner of the other semi-final, due to take place tomorrow, between The Netherlands and South Korea.

As the game went on, New Zealand began to exert their influence and created a number of chances in the fourth quarter.  

England goalkeeper Maddie Hinch made a superb right-sided save as she smothered a shot from point blank range from Shiloh Gloyn.

Hinch was in the action again with just over five minutes to go, saving brilliantly from a barrage of shots but conceding a penalty corner to New Zealand.

The resulting set-piece was perfectly injected and trapped, allowing drag flicker Olivia Merry to strike the ball to her left past Hinch's outstretched right hand and into the England net to give New Zealand the lead.

Five minutes of tense hockey ensued but New Zealand held on to win 1-0 and reach their second consecutive Women's Hockey World League Final.

They finished second at the 2015 event in Rosario in Argentina.

"Tonight we saw two good teams having a good fight and tussle," New Zealand coach Mark Hager said.

"In the end the game could have gone either way.

"The difference was Olivia's goal.

"We have lost the apprehension we had in the early stages of this event.

"We are in the top echelon of hockey now."

England had their chances with Sophie Bray thinking she had scored in the second quarter, only for Lily Owsley's pass to be deemed as being from the back of the stick upon referral.

On the stroke of half-time, New Zealand goalkeeper Sally Rutherford was called on to block Hannah Martin's direct shot.

"It was fast, it was attacking," Owsley said.

"Usually we back ourselves against most teams when it comes to playing an open game but unfortunately they were so quick and so fit.

"We couldn't match them in the second-half - we just couldn't control it."

New Zealand's win followed Argentina's 4-0 victory against Germany earlier in the day in the fifth-place play-off.

Eugenia Trinchinetti and Agustina Habif both got their names on the scoresheet for the South Americans before a brace from Delfina Merino capped off the victory. 

Tomorrow's semi-final between The Netherlands and South Korea will be preceded by the seventh-place play-off between the United States and China.