The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars enter the fifth and final game of the T20 INTL series at the MCG looking to reassert their dominance, while the visitors will be out to prove Wednesday's six-wicket win in Sydney was no fluke.
Australia holds an unassailable 3-1 lead having claimed the opening three matches of the series but will be desperate to avoid consecutive losses against their trans-Tasman rivals.
Having experimented with a new battling line-up, the home side faltered with the bat for the first time in the series in Game 4, losing 4-17 at the top of the innings on their way to setting the Kiwis a modest target of 93 for victory.
White Ferns skipper Suzie Bates guided the tourists home with five balls to spare to steal some of the momentum heading into Friday's clash.
Southern Stars captain Jodie Fields lamented the team's uncharacteristic batting and fielding performances at Sydney Olympic Park, although she is confident the side can turn things around quickly.
"We'll travel to Melbourne and have a training session so I know the batters will be keen to be positive in that and come out at the MCG on Friday fighting hard, I suppose just like New Zealand did on Wednesday," Fields said.
"It was just a disappointing batting performance, you can't be 4-17 and score 93 and expect to win the game."
"Fielding is one of our strengths and we dropped three really important catches which could have changed the match, but well done to Suzie she batted really well."
Asked if the hosts are likely to experiment with their line-up for the second straight game, Fields replied: "I'm pretty confident in all 14 players, today we wanted to give people like Sharon Millanta a bowl which I thought she did a really good job."
"We're trying to develop all 14 players for upcoming tournaments as well so we'll talk to the coach and selectors and see what happens for Friday's match."
Meanwhile, Bates was delighted with the win in Sydney but believes her young side is capable of an even better performance in the final game of the tour.
"It's good to have one more chance at a game in Melbourne and another situation in a big stadium playing before the men's game, so we'll be looking to make improvements from today and go into the game in Melbourne with plenty of confidence," Bates said.
She added when quizzed on team selection: "It's hard to change a winning team but we also know the pitch will be slightly different in Melbourne and hopefully a bit more pace, so that might come into consideration when we're picking our team."
"We've had some new girls come in and perform so it's going to be hard to leave people out."
