Southern Stars skipper bitterly disappointed by her side's batting debacle in Adelaide decider
Complete failure to learn lessons: Lanning
Australia skipper Meg Lanning is making no excuses after the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars slumped to their lowest-ever T20 international total against New Zealand on Wednesday, saying the team's batters must learn from their disastrous collapse at Adelaide Oval.
The Southern Stars face a quick turnaround before their one-day international series against the White Ferns begins in Auckland on Sunday and with that in mind, Lanning said the Australians would not be brushing aside their batting efforts in Geelong and Adelaide as mere aberrations.
Quick Single: Record low total hands NZ series
In Geelong, the Southern Stars stuttered to 9-61 in pursuit of a revised total of 70, but no-one was prepared for what transpired at Adelaide Oval.
Having restricted New Zealand to 8-113, the world No.1-ranked Australians fell to 5-9 in the face of an outstanding opening spell from Lea Tahuhu and Holly Huddleston and were eventually bowled out for 66, their lowest total in international T20s.
"It was very similar to Geelong," Lanning said after New Zealand wrapped up a 2-1 series victory. "We didn't learn our lessons.
"Full credit to New Zealand, I thought they bowled really well and stopped us getting any momentum, but we have to find a way to make sure we keep the scoreboard ticking over and make sure we don't lose early wickets like we did today.
"We've got to learn from it. That's two games in a row now where the same sort of thing has happened.
"We move into one-day cricket now which is a nice shift for us, but we've got to learn from it and see what we can do better, because we're going to come up against the same (bowlers).
"There's plenty for us to think about.
"We need to come up with a few different plans and really think our way through more than we have."
In pleasing news for Australia, they have one very big 'in' for the ODIs in New Zealand, with superstar allrounder Ellyse Perry to return from a hamstring injury.
Perry's recent form with the bat in the one-day format has been nothing short of remarkable, with the 26-year-old averaging 92.53 since moving into Australia's top five, while her past 24 knocks have produced 17 half-centuries.
ODI opener Nicole Bolton also joins the squad in New Zealand and Lanning said the pressure would be on the top four – likely to be led by Bolton and Beth Mooney at the top of the order, with Lanning at No.3 and Perry at No.4 – to turn around Australia's fortunes with the bat.
"I'm looking forward getting Ellyse back, you don't realise what you've got until it's gone," Lanning said.
"We would have loved to have had her here for the last couple of games.
"We've been able to give some opportunities to other players which has been good, but I'm certainly looking forward to getting her back in the squad.
"People have to take responsibility in the top order with the bat and one-day cricket gives us the chance to do that.
"It's very important that our top four makes the majority of the runs."
Lanning has also backed newcomer Ashleigh Gardner to find her groove with the bat in international cricket if given the chance in New Zealand.
Gardner's debut followed a brilliant Rebel Women's Big Bash campaign for the Sydney Sixers at No.3, but she was unable to make the same impact batting in the same position in her first three international outings, dismissed for 0, 5 and 0.
"We picked her because she deserved her chance," she said. "It didn't work out as she would have liked with the bat in this series, but she's one of the most powerful hitters in the game so hopefully we see some of that over in New Zealand.
"The overs she has bowled were very good and she looked very calm with the ball in her hand, so there are plenty more positives to see with Ash."
The Southern Stars were in a similar position last summer after losing their T20 series to the White Ferns 2-1, but bounced back to retain the one-day Rose Bowl trophy with a 2-1 victory on New Zealand soil, and Lanning said she was confidence in her team's ability to fight back.
"We've shown through the domestic season that this is the best group of players we can pick," Lanning said. "It hasn't worked the last of couple games, but with the ball I'm very happy with how we're going.
"We've got the talent, we're just not using it as well as we can."
However, they will be up against a New Zealand full of confidence after overcoming a thrashing at the MCG last Friday to dominate with the ball in Geelong and Adelaide, with captain Suzie Bates saying her team was desperate to win back the Rose Bowl for the first time in 17 years.
"The Rose Bowl means a lot for this group, we haven't won it for a long time and we've gone close a number of times," Bates said.
"Last year I thought we played some really good cricket in that 50-over competition but when it came down to the wire we couldn't get over the line.
"That's where the confidence will come from, that when our backs were against the wall (in this series), we had players who stepped up against a really quality side."