Kerr wants to see more aggression from New Zealand following Australia series loss
The White Ferns star wants to see more from her players in the final match of the series against Australia.
Star New Zealand all-rounder Melie Kerr is looking for a response from her side in the final T20I of their series against Australia.
The White Ferns fell to their second consecutive loss when they were defeated by a rampant Australian side by 82 runs at Mount Maunganui on Sunday and have little time to lick their wounds ahead of the final clash of the series in Wellington on Wednesday.
Annabel Sutherland's all-round excellence helped Australia seal a 2-0 series win over New Zealand ⚡#NZvAUS 📝: https://t.co/N9UpMDBimg pic.twitter.com/7pH0a7GUdZ
— ICC (@ICC) March 23, 2025
The Kiwis have been outclassed by Australia in both matches of the series thus far and Kerr admitted her side has been well off the pace.
"It's been a tough few games for us and we're really disappointed," Kerr said.
"They're a world-class side, but I think we would love to compete a whole lot more than what we have, and we've been off the mark personally as a team, with both bat and ball.
"We've bowled a lot of loose balls at times, which means we haven't been able to build pressure and then our good balls don't take wickets because we're screwing up our bad ones."
The results have been mixed for New Zealand since their remarkable success at last year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup, with the side having lost white-ball series to India and Australia (twice), with their sole success coming at home in an ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Kerr knows her team is still evolving and wants to see the players show a bit more aggression when out on the field.
"We've got to keep growing and learning and trying to get better, and we've still got one more game with a lot to play for," Kerr noted.
"For us, it's how can we compete more and build belief and have a bit of mongrel about us, because we know that if we do play our best, we can beat them."
Every wicket from Melie Kerr | WT20WC 2024
The match in Wellington will be the last for Australia following their own recent busy schedule and stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath wants her side to finish on a high.
The Aussies were bundled out by South Africa in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year and want to show they remain a force in white-ball cricket.
"We're playing against the world champions, and we want to be the world champions," McGrath said.
"(We want to) finish the season on a high, we go to Wellington job not done and really keen to finish it off 3-0."