Four takeaways from the Stars' loss to NZ

The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars leave the city of Nagpur with Australia one win and one loss, with a few things to work on, and a simple goal: win their last two matches and qualify for the semi-finals.

While Meg Lanning's team fell to a six-wicket defeat to New Zealand, who are now in the box seat to top Group A, the tournament is far from over for the three-time defending World T20 champions.

Quick Single: Stars undone by red-hot White Ferns

Next it's off to Delhi, where they will meet their final two group stage opponents Sri Lanka and Ireland.

Below are the takeaways from Monday's match, for both Australia and New Zealand.

Australia need move past the loss and fast

The Southern Stars fly to Delhi on Tuesday ahead of their next clash against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Their loss to the White Ferns leaves them with one win from two matches, with a net run rate of -0.267.

They are still in the box seat to make the semi-finals, but they cannot afford to drop either of their two remaining matches. Large victories will also be important, in case net run rate comes into the top-two equation – a possibility if South Africa win their three remaining matches.

Despite the wobbles, Ellyse Perry is backing Australia's top-order to fire.

Quick Single: More top-order woes for Southern Stars

"(Losing early wickets) is a problem and we've tried a few different opening combinations, but we're really set on our batting order now, it's just about being consistent," Perry said after the match.

"I'd really have to go back and look at some of the dismissals today and see what went wrong but we've very confidence in our top four or five batters to do really well and take on the power play.

"It's just something we haven't managed to do consistently over the last few months, so hopefully in the last couple of round matches we can really start to nail that."

This isn't new territory for the Southern Stars

They've won the last three World T20 titles, but the Southern Stars lost one group match in both the 2012 and 2014 tournaments.

In 2012, it was to England and in 2014, they fell to New Zealand.

Traditionally, Australia's World T20 tournaments have seen them start slow and produce their best cricket in the finals, so they will still be feeling confident with two group matches remaining.

While the batting was disappointing on Monday, Meg Lanning's dismissal was sheer bad luck from her end, called through for a quick single that wasn't there, while Ellyse Perry looked incredibly comfortable in her 48-ball 42.

"I don't think this (defeat) is deflating at all," Perry said.

"It gives us something to work on, we've got a day of training before the next match and we're keen to get out there and work on a few things that didn't come off for us today.

"Playing in World Cups you've got games coming thick and fast so I think everyone is very much looking forward to getting out there and playing again.

"There are things we want to improve on in these round matches to hopefully qualify for the semi-finals."

New Zealand are the real deal

Image Id: ~/media/D3471A25127B4EB7AF459DB2B9BD4D0D Image Caption: The White Ferns pose for a selfie after their victory // Getty

The Kiwis are in-form, bold and innovative and it's paying off.

They've now won 10 of their last 12 T20Is. Most of those wins came on home soil so it was difficult to judge whether they would be equally effective in Indian conditions, and even after emphatic early wins over Ireland and Sri Lanka, it was hard to be certain exactly how good their current form is.

But their win over Australia demonstrated both confidence and cricket smarts and they've shown they should be considered tournament favourites alongside England, if not outright.

"We've played a lot of cricket against them in the last month or so and I think they're one of the favourites for this tournament, they have a lot of weapons and are playing consistently good cricket," Perry said.

World T20 Today: Aussies alive and kicking

Suzie Bates' decision to operate with spin at both ends for the first eight overs, rather than using the pace of Lea Tahuhu, paid off and despite Australia's batting struggles, they saw enough from Ellyse Perry's successful innings to feel comfortable attacking the Southern Stars from ball one in reply.

"The way Australia batted at the end of the innings with that positive intent proved there were no real demons in the wicket.

"Rachel Priest hasn't been in the best form in recent games so to come out like that in a big match against Australia it was really pleasing to see her start the innings on a positive note."

Leigh Kasperek is a star unearthed

The 24-year-old off-spinner hails from Edinburgh and first played international cricket for Scotland when she was 15 years old.

After several years of cricket in New Zealand, she's now a certified White Fern and in just 10 T20 matches for her adopted country she's already had a massive impact.

She took 4-7 and 3-26 in two matches against Australia earlier this month and already in this tournament she's snared 2-19, 1-10 and 3-13.

Keep an eye on Kasperek for the remainder of the tournament.