The White Ferns have suffered their eighth straight defeat in T20 internationals, losing by five wickets against Australia in Mackay last night.
The Kiwis managed a total of 143-7 before being chased down in 18.4 overs by a dominant Australian side.
While beating world No. 1 Australia is no easy task, the White Ferns' recent run of form doesn't give Kiwi fans much hope ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup, set to start early next month.
The White Ferns haven’t won a T20 international since beating England by three runs in March.
The batting display by the Kiwis was the most disheartening aspect of the loss, as none of the top order batters managed to form decent partnerships and ultimately left them with a lower total than they would've liked.
Middle order batter Maddy Green said there was room for improvement with both bat and ball.
The White Ferns lost by five wickets against Australia in Mackay last night. (Source: Cricket Australia) (Source: Supplied)
“I think we put a competitive total on the board and had a few different people standing up but we were potentially 10 to 15 runs short,” Green said.
“I think we were in it for a fair chunk of the match but Phoebe (Litchfield) took the game away from us, I thought she was the difference tonight.”
Litchfield and Georgia Wareham’s 50-run partnership for Australia in the middle order was enough to take the match away from the White Ferns.
"We managed to put some positive partnerships together in the middle phase and look, I think we needed one of our batters to dominate. I think we saw that happen in the Australian innings, we saw Litchfield get a 50 and finish the game off and we didn't have that in our innings.
“We needed bigger contributions from most of our batters and Phoebe was clinical and didn't take her foot off the throat.”
Litchfield managed 11 boundaries on her way to reaching an unbeaten 64 off 43 balls, hitting innovative ramp shots, reverse sweeps and powerful drives off some poor bowling to guide her side to victory.
In comparison, Green top scored for the White Ferns with 35 runs off 33 deliveries.
White Ferns captain Suzie Bates managed 33 off 27 deliveries, hitting five fours before she top edged a bouncer to be caught behind.
“It’s been a really tough six months for us - I won't hide behind that. But the girls have been working extremely hard and we’re trying to evolve as players," said Green.
Molly Penfold was the best performing bowler, taking figures of 2-24 off her four overs.
White Ferns captain Sophie Devine had to sit out the first T20 due to an ankle injury but Green said she should be able to return to play the rest of the series.
This three-match series against Australia is one of the last chances for the White Ferns to prepare for the T20 World Cup with their first match on October 5 against world No. 3 India. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and defending champions Australia are also in their group.
The White Ferns take on Australia again on Sunday in Mackay, before the third match of the series taking place in Brisbane next Tuesday.
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