Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic's golden run continued under huge pressure as they battled to a 49-48 win over Adelaide Thunderbirds in Monday's trans-Tasman netball league elimination final in Hamilton.

The Magic lifted after losing a horror second quarter 8-19 to hold off the Thunderbirds in the frantic final minutes and secure a preliminary final berth against Northern Mystics in Auckland next week.

It was the Magic's 11th consecutive win after they lost their opening four matches of the season, and one they had to work for right until the final whistle.

After thumping the Thunderbirds by 17 goals two weeks ago, the home team looked set to deliver more of the same as the first quarter progressed.

The Thunderbirds feed into the circle was under all sorts of pressure, with shooters Carla Borrego and Erin Bell struggling for position and accuracy.

Their shooting suffered, with the close attentions of Magic defenders Casey Williams and Leana de Bruin wreaking havoc in restricting the Adelaide shooters to a 64 per cent success rate as the Magic led 15-7 after 15 minutes.

Magic shooters Irene van Dyk and Julianna Naoupu never missed a shot in the first quarter.

Thunderbirds coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson tweaked her line-up for the second spell, shifting Bec Bulley to goal keep with an eye on reigning in van Dyk while Sharni Layton moved out to goal defence.

But the main step up for the Australians came on attack. Led by inspirational centre Natalie von Bertouch, playing despite a fractured finger, they upped the tempo in the attacking third.

At the halftime whistle Adelaide had turned the game around to lead 26-23.

In an intense third quarter the teams matched each other goal for goal until Magic wing defence Elias Shadrock forced a vital turnover with barely one minute on the clock to level the scores.

The Thunderbirds scored right on the whistle to take the narrowest of leads at 39-38 into the three-quarter break.