The national broadcaster offered no official reason for stopping the coverage, but it was believed possible disruption to the stations' evening schedule was the reason for the abrupt end to the televised match.
The decision sparked an avalanche of calls from irate viewers while the Australian team captain Kathryn Harby-Williams has demanded an explanation for the decision and said the team was furious.
The ABC’s head of policy Michael Ward said the decision to revert to regular programming had been made by senior executives.
"The ABC delayed leaving the netball until the last minute, choosing to drop a number of scheduled program announcements to stay with the match as long as possible.
"However, when it became clear that the match would continue until after 6pm, the decision was made to go to the scheduled program, Something In The Air.
"This was announced as the live broadcast ended."
New Zealand went on to win the match 58-47 to level the series at 1-1. Harby-Williams said the ABC had treated the team and fans with contempt.
"It has made me very angry and it has made a mockery of the sport," Harby-Williams said when she heard about what had happened. "I can't imagine the impact it will have on the image of us as professionals. It's a personal insult."
Vice-captain Liz Ellis said the ABC’s decision was damaging to women’s sport and said it would not have happened to any of the top male Australian sporting teams.
"It's an absolute disgrace," she said. "After the ABC had threatened to scrap the sport people were so excited when they came to the party to show the games live. To see this happen is devastating. I can't imagine why it happened."
