Room to improve a bonus for Stars

While a come-from-behind series win has provided the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars with an injection of confidence as they switch their attention to the 20-over game, skipper Meg Lanning can still see room for improvement

After dropping the first match of the Rose Bowl to New Zealand by nine runs, the Southern Stars – led by Lanning's two centuries – fought back to take the series 2-1.

Quick Single: Lanning century leads Stars to Rose Bowl win

Most pleasingly for Lanning, she believes her team can get even better as they embark on their mission to win a fourth-straight World T20 title next month.

"We've still got a little bit of improving to do, I thought we started off slow with both the bat and ball today," Lanning said after the match.

"We worked our way into it really well with the ball with Sarah Coyte and Rene Farrell, they had a great partnership that got us going then we kicked into gear.

"Batting we started very slow and we let them get on top, but once we worked our way into it we were a lot better.

"We don't really want to find ourselves in those positions, but it's nice that even though we've got a bit to work on we're still able to win games."

While Australia's bowling and fielding were strong across the three matches, it was with the bat that they were let down in Saturday's first ODI – something they turned around emphatically in the two games that followed, with Ellyse Perry (64 and 35) and Alex Blackwell (50 not out) joining Lanning in match-winning partnerships.

"We've been talking a lot about our batting and taking responsibility, big partnership and match-winning not outs," Lanning added. 

"It's one of the things that when I get in I try to do. It's been nice in the last two games to be able to go on with it, which doesn't always happen."

When Blackwell joined Lanning at the crease with the score 3-111, the vice-captain took on the role of inventor, taking the risks while Lanning continued to work her way to her eighth one-day century.

It was an effective strategy as they formed 129-run stand and one that Lanning said went precisely to plan.

"We were just trying to make sure we didn’t let the run rate get above six," she said.

"So if it did get up, we'd take a calculated risk and try and keep it under control.

"We were able to do that pretty well. It was quite windy, so we had one side of the ground where we could go hard and get away with a lot more.

"I thought Alex came in and played really well."

The win meant the Southern Stars increased their lead at the top of the ICC Women's Championship, putting them in prime position to become the inaugural winners at the end of the year, with two ODI series left to play against Sri Lanka (away) and South Africa (home).

"They were very important games for us, the Rose Bowl is a very important trophy and we were very happy to have won this game," Lanning said.

But first, Australia turn their attention to their three-match T20 series against the White Ferns, which kicks off on Sunday in Wellington.

It will be the Southern Stars' final chance to prepare for next month's World T20 in India.