Aussies out to extend hold over Kiwis

Australia are out to continue a winning streak that stretches back almost two decades as they prepare for Friday's opening one-day international against New Zealand at the WACA Ground.

The Australians last lost an ODI series to the White Ferns in 1999 and after winning back the coveted Rose Bowl Trophy one year later, have kept it safely on this side of the Tasman ever since.

In that time they've won 15 series and drawn one and as the current No.1 team in the ICC's ODI rankings, the hosts will rightly go in as favourites against a White Ferns team who suffered a 2-1 one-day series defeat on home soil to India earlier this month.

"By no means do we want to underestimate New Zealand," Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes said on Tuesday.

"They've got some really dangerous players and we've seen that over the last little bit and the series we had prior to Christmas in T20s.

"They've got some really key players who can take the game away from you.

"We want to finish our season really well too, we've had a pretty good little period, so it'd be nice to finish off the Australian summer with a trophy."

Those key players include Rebel WBBL stars Sophie Devine, Lea Tahuhu, Suzie Bates and Kiwi captain Amy Satterthwaite, alongside the likes of up-and-coming leg-spinner Amelia Kerr, who at just 18 years of age has already played 50 international matches.

"They've got some really good depth in their team and some dangerous players too, we certainly don't want to underestimate them," Haynes said.

As well as the Rose Bowl, ICC Championship points – which determine automatic qualification for the 2021 one-day World Cup – are also on the line.

New Zealand's preparations suffered a major disruption late last week when coach Haidee Tiffen announced she would not be travelling to Australia with her team, instead taking a leave of absence following a review into her team's failed 2018 T20 World Cup campaign which suggested all coaching staff's positions should be advertised at the completion of their current contracts.

Despite the turmoil, New Zealand allrounder Devine says her team would go into the series with momentum following their confidence-boosting 3-0 T20I series win over India.

"We were pretty disappointed with the way we started that (ODI) series and especially being at home, we really wanted to put a mark on that," Devine said on Tuesday.

"It probably took us a little too long to kick into gear … but once we got that right we seemed to steamroll a little bit, so for us it's about making sure we're as prepared as possible for these series.

"We're coming off a bit of a bit of momentum against the Indian side who are a quality side so we've played a lot of cricket together over the last couple of weeks and I think that's going to hold us in really good stead."

After forcing both the 2016 and 2017 Rose Bowl series to deciding ODIs, Devine is hopeful her team can go one step further this time around.

"It's coming up 20 years now and we're pretty keen to grab that trophy back," she said.

"We've been very close in the past and that's something we're really holding onto."

Australia and New Zealand will finetune their preparations at the WACA on Wednesday and Thursday before the first ODI gets underway at 10.20am local time (1.20pm AEDT) on Friday.

The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Channel 7 and can be live streamed via Kayo, with news, scores and highlights on cricket.com.au and the CA Live App.

CommBank ODIs v NZ 

February 22: First ODI, WACA Ground, Perth

February 24: Second ODI, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

March 3: Third ODI, Junction Oval, Melbourne