Sutherland itching to go with clean sweep on the line

Australia are not satisfied with an ODI series win over Pakistan, with Annabel Sutherland saying she and her teammates were determined to improve in Saturday’s third and final one-dayer in Sydney.

The allrounder wouldn’t mind a bat, either – not that she can complain too much about the red-hot form displayed by Australia’s top-order across the opening two matches in Brisbane.

Australia’s bowlers, including right-arm quick Sutherland, have restricted Pakistan to 160 and 125 in the series so far, and the hosts on both occasions reeled in their targets with ease, by eight and 10 wickets respectively.

The star of both chases was 19-year-old debutant Phoebe Litchfield, whose ODI career has started with unbeaten knocks of 78 and 67.

But there remains room for improvement, 21-year-old Sutherland insisted after the Australian squad touched down in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

"Two wins on the board and wrapped up a series win, it's a pretty nice start to the series and the girls are pretty pumped and keen for the next one in Sydney," Sutherland said.

"We're a team that's trying to continually evolve and we're nit-picking at little things we can continue to improve on and it's a great opportunity for all the girls in this third game.

"We've seen a couple put their hands up, Pheebs opening the batting and doing pretty well up top, but I know the rest of the batting line-up is pretty keen to get a hit."

The form of Litchfield, fellow opener Beth Mooney and No.3 Meg Lanning means Australia have not had to utilise their star-studded middle-order to date, with Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland warming the bench.

Perry, Sutherland and McGrath have all hit centuries this domestic one-day season – in Perry’s case, three of them, and in Sutherland’s, two – and would undoubtedly relish a chance to spend time in the middle at North Sydney Oval.

Sutherland, who also enjoyed a career-best season with both bat and ball for Melbourne Stars late last year, jokingly agreed she might have a word in Lanning’s ear to suggest batting first should the Australia skipper win the toss, but added she was content to bide her time.

"I'm sure a few of the batters will be in (Meg's) ear, and pretty keen to get a hit," she laughed.

"I love working on my batting and I've done a lot of work throughout the preseason and have been building for a couple of years.

"It's a continual process, there's always something to tinker with and work on ... I love just hitting balls and finding ways to improve, whether it's accessing different parts of the ground or working on my power.

"It's been cool to get some opportunities throughout the (domestic) season ... at the moment, I'm not really required down the order (for Australia) but you never know what will happen, so I'm ready to take my opportunity when it comes."

Sutherland was unable to break into the Aussie XI during the Commonwealth Games last July and August, but played all five matches on the recent T20 tour of India.

While she has yet to pad up against Pakistan, she has bowled economically and picked up two wickets in the second ODI, including the crucial scalp of Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof.

"It was nice to get a little bit of a rhythm with a couple of spells," Sutherland said.

"But I think when you come in behind a couple of star quicks like Darcie Brown and Kim Garth, and Ellyse Perry too ... it's a pretty good line-up to come in third or fourth change, so I was happy I could play a role and hold up an end."

Australia will hold an optional training session at North Sydney Oval on Friday ahead of the third and final ODI.

Nicola Carey has been released from the 13-player squad after not featuring in either of the first two matches, and will instead link up with her Tasmania teammates in Canberra for their Women’s National Cricket League match against ACT Meteors on Saturday.

No replacement has been named.

CommBank ODI Series

Monday Jan 16:Australia won by eight wickets (DLS method)

Wednesday Jan 18:Australia won by 10 wickets

Saturday Jan 21:North Sydney Oval, 11:05am AEDT

Buy #AUSvPAK ODI tickets here

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland

Pakistan ODI squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan