Fielding in focus for Aussies ahead of trans-Tasman clash

Australia's T20 World Cup campaign is off to a winning start but there is still work to do, says spinner Sophie Molineux.

An at-times scrappy but ultimately comfortable six-wicket win over Sri Lanka has put Australia second on the Group A table behind their next opponent New Zealand.

The White Ferns have renewed confidence following their 58-run upset win over India which snapped a 10-match run of losses, and gave them a hand net run rate to start the tournament.

Fielding remains the area Australia most want to improve on after they registered one dropped catch and a missed stumping against Sri Lanka, while the defending champions generally did not look as sharp in the field as the standards they have set for themselves in recent years.

While neither error was particularly damaging on the scoreboard, Australia know they cannot afford similar slips against the likes of Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr. 

"We probably could be a bit cleaner in the field," Molineux said.

"(Sharjah Cricket Stadium) definitely was a different field to what we played on back in Australia, a slower (outfield) and bigger.

"We can definitely go up a notch in the field. Even our bowling, I think we could tighten up bits and pieces there too.

"So, there's definitely still things to improve on, but it was a good start."

Australia beat New Zealand 3-0 on home soil last month, but Molineux insisted their trans-Tasman rival would present a different challenge in Sharjah. 

A win on Tuesday would be a significant step towards booking a semi-final berth, with games against Pakistan and India still to come.

New Zealand, meanwhile, will be desperate boost their chances of booking a spot in the finals of an ICC tournament for the first time since 2016.

"It won't be too dissimilar to how we approach every game, and that's to come out with intensity," Molineux said.

"The conditions will obviously be very different to when we played them back in Australia so again, it's about adapting.

"They've had a really good win, so they're going to come in on a high but hopefully we can carry on our momentum as well."

This will be Australia's first official night game of the tournament, although they did play under lights in both warm-ups against England and West Indies.

So far, dew has not been a significant feature of night games across the first four days, but Molineux said Australia would be prepared if it did make an appearance.

"Dew definitely could be a factor, and I think we've taken that into account, especially over the last couple of weeks in Brisbane and Mackay, there was a bit of dew up there.

"That was good preparation.

"(Practising) catching under lights, all the little things like that, I feel like we've been able to tick that off in our preparation too ... and hopefully it's a bit cooler at night."

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Australia's Group A fixtures

October 5: beat Sri Lanka by six wickets

October 8: v New Zealand, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 9 AEDT

October 11: v Pakistan, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 12 AEDT

October 13: v India, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 14 AEDT

Finals

October 17: Semi-final 1, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 18 AEDT

October 18: Semi-final 2, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 19 AEDT

October 20: Final, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 21 AEDT

For the full list of fixtures click here. All matches live and exclusive on Prime Video. Sign up here for a 30-day free trial