No room for error against NZ: Perry

Allrounder Ellyse Perry admits the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars' bowling attack will need to be on-song from ball one when they meet an in-form New Zealand in Nagpur on Monday.

The Southern Stars produced a near-flawless performance with the ball and in the field during the second half of South Africa's innings on Friday, taking 7-46 and allowing just one boundary to be scored from the final 10 overs.

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But the Proteas had made a promising start – reaching 72 in 12.5 overs before the first wicket fell – and Perry knows New Zealand's stronger batting line-up could make Australia pay if they find themselves in a similar situation.

"It's going be another really tough game," Perry said on Saturday.

"Looking at New Zealand in comparison to South Africa, they've got a lot of depth in their batting line-up so it's going to be a real challenge for us especially in the early overs to make sure we start well."

While the pitch at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium used by the New Zealand and India men last week provided sharp turn, the pitch used by the Southern Stars on Friday offered more assistance to the pace bowlers.

South Africa were restricted to 7-102 and the Southern Stars found themselves 3-9 before recovering to reach the target with nine balls to spare, and Perry expects the going to be just as tough for the batters on Monday – particularly those doing the chasing.

"Both (Australia and New Zealand) have a lot of ability to score big runs and it's going to make chasing on that wicket quite hard as well," she said.

"The two South Africa opening fast bowlers especially got a lot out of the pitch in terms of variable bounce.

"We were surprised at how low it played in that second innings. Whether it changed a lot from the first innings to the second or not was hard to tell, but certainly their two-pace bowlers got a lot out of it.

"(But the) spinners can get a lot out of it as well, it's quite a slow wicket and held up a bit, but with the way it skidded on, especially with the new ball, that made it particularly difficult to bat on."

The clash with New Zealand could prove decisive in the battle for top spot in Group A. The White Ferns already have two emphatic wins to their name over Sri Lanka and Ireland and will be keen to strengthen their grip on a semi-finals berth with victory No.3.

Meanwhile, the equation in Group B became a lot more interesting on Saturday when Pakistan claimed a rain-affected two-run win over India.

It leaves India needing to win their final two matches against England and West Indies to be assured of a spot in the semi-finals.