Australia enter unknown territory for must-win T20I

Australia will fight to keep a remarkable streak alive in their T20I series decider against New Zealand at Auckland's Eden Park on Thursday, with the game to also provide a crucial chance for reconnaissance ahead of the ODI World Cup.

The match will be the first bilateral series decider for Australia since late 2017, and Meg Lanning's team will need to defeat the White Ferns at a venue where they have never played before to take out the series.

The last time Australia lost a T20I series or tournament was the 20-over leg of the Ashes in November 2017, where they retained the overall trophy but lost the final two games of the series.

Since then, they have claimed bilateral series wins over New Zealand twice, Pakistan, England and West Indies, taken out two T20 tri-series and claimed two T20 World Cup titles; an impressive feat given the fickle nature of the shortest form of the game.

However, must-win matches are not unfamiliar territory for the world's top-ranked team, who needed to win every match of last year's T20 World Cup after dropping their opening game against India.

What is unfamiliar will be the unique proportions of a rectangular Eden Park, and its famed short straight boundaries.

Some member of the Australian squad have played at Eden Park's outer oval, most recently in an ODI in 2017, but an Australian women's team has not played on the main ground since 1997.

Lanning's team are set to play an ODI World Cup blockbuster against India at the venue next March, and Thursday's game is a chance for batters and bowlers alike to get a taste of the conditions.

"Eden Park is a really intriguing cricket ground, I've watched the Australian (men's) team a couple of times there now and I've watched the rugby as well," Australia opener Alyssa Healy told cricket.com.au in the lead-up to the series.

"It's an intriguing place to play cricket and I'm excited to go there and hopefully hit some balls down the ground.

"The T20s are a really great opportunity for us to play at some different venues.

"We've played a lot of cricket at Mount Mauganui over the years … which we don't mind one bit because it's a beautiful place to visit and play cricket but I'm excited to travel around New Zealand."

Powerful middle-order batter Ashleigh Gardner, who hit an unbeaten 73 in the series opener, is another looking forward to testing the short boundaries at the venue.

Not that she expects New Zealand's bowling attack, who most recently played at the venue in 2019 when they defeated India by four wickets, to make it easy.

The White Ferns had been set to host England at Eden Park earlier this month before the game was moved to Wellington due to the city's COVID-19 outbreak.  

"The straights are pretty short and it's definitely something you do think of when you go into those games," Gardner said last week.

"As a batter you do want to target those short boundaries that you can.

"It doesn't always come off and people need to come up with different bowling plans for that to not be as easy."

CommBank tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia ODI & T20I Squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Georgia Wareham, Belinda Vakarewa, Tayla Vlaeminck

New Zealand T20I squad: Sophie Devine (capt), Amy Satterthwaite (vice-capt), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Frances Mackay, Katey Martin (wk), Thamsyn Newton, Hannah Rowe

New Zealand ODI squad: Sophie Devine (capt), Amy Satterthwaite (vice-capt), Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek - (games 2 & 3 only), Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Frances Mackay, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin (wk), Hannah Rowe (game 1 only), Lea Tahuhu

1st T20: Australia won by six wickets

2nd T20: New Zealand won by four wickets

3rd T20: April 1, Eden Park, Auckland, 1pm AEDT

1st ODI: April 4, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 9am AEDT

2nd ODI: April 7, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

3rd ODI: April 10, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo