Constant effort to improve as a group been the key to success, says Meg Lanning 

wrapped up the three-match T20I series against New Zealand in Brisbane, having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead on Sunday (September 27). While they won the first T20I by 17 runs, Australia eased to a convincing eight-wicket victory in the second.

Skipper Meg Lanning said the allround depth in the squad helped them overcome the challenges even though they haven’t been at their best in the series. “I think at different times throughout the first two games, people have stepped up and contributed, but we don't feel like we've played our best game yet,” Lanning said during the media interaction ahead of the third and final T20I on Wednesday (September 30).

“I think we've developed that over a period of time, we don't rely on one or two players. As we saw in the first game, Ash Gardner was able to step up and make a match-winning contribution. So that gives us a lot of confidence that if our top order doesn't fire that we've still got the real depth to be able to get us over the line. Even when things don't go our way the whole game, we're able to fight through. And I think that's a really important quality to have,” she added.

“We've still got a fair bit to work on with both bat and ball, which is really exciting for this group. So, everyone's looking forward to playing again tomorrow. The New Zealanders are going to come back hard at us. They've got some real match-winners within their side. So, we do need to step it up again and hopefully we see that tomorrow.”

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Australia will however, miss the services of star allrounder Ellyse Perry after she was ruled out of the ongoing T20I series and the subsequent ODI series. She is also a doubtful starter for the opening rounds of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) which starts October 25.

“Ellyse was on track to play some part in this series, but unfortunately, she had some hamstring awareness and has got a low-grade strain, so she won't be available for the rest of the series. She'll remain with the team to continue her rehab and training in the hope of being available at some point during the WBBL,” Lanning said.

With the same pitch expected to be used for the final match, there could be more on offer for the spinners. The skipper lauded her bowling attack for their performances in the first two matches and said different players have stood up to the challenges during the series. She added the spinners are the strength of the side and expect them to continue the good work they have been able to do in the series so far.

“Delissa Kimmince has been great for us over the last few years. And Sophie Molineux, a young player coming through who was very calm under pressure. And certainly, it's nice to be able to go to her at different points. Nic (Nicola) Carey actually bowled some really important overs and it's not easy sometimes just to come on about one or two. It was at critical points, but I think she's done an excellent job. So, it certainly has been great to see different people performing at different times and hopefully we can continue to see it,” she added.

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“We've got a lot of spinners in our team, regardless of the conditions, because I feel like we've got really good variety there. But the conditions have definitely suited spin bowling and sort of change of pace and things like that. We probably expected the wicket to be a little bit flatter - especially game one - than it was. It was probably better on Sunday, to be honest."

“I think the great thing about this team is we've been able to adapt and show when the conditions are slightly different from what we expect, we're able to still perform really well. So, yeah, I guess it sort of brought our spinners into the game a fair bit, the first two days. We tend to play spinners most of the time anyway because we feel like that's the real strength of ours,” Lanning stated.

The 28-year-old said even though the series has been won, Australia won’t be making too many changes in the playing XI and are vary of New Zealand’s ability to bounce back. "I can't see too many changes happening for tomorrow. We'll have to assess how particularly the fast bowlers are going. But if they're fit, I can't see us making too many changes. I don't want to sort of giving too much way to New Zealand.

"As I said, they're a really tough team and they've got some world-class players. We're expecting them to bounce back pretty quick. So, we're going to have to play well and we'll be putting out our strongest team tomorrow,” said Lanning.

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“There could be a slight change in terms of whether we play an extra pace bowler or spin bowler. But as I said, I think all of our bowlers have been really good at adapting to the conditions that might be bowling a little bit quicker on certain days or really taking the pace of depending on what the wickets doing. So, I've got full confidence in all bowlers. No matter what the conditions are that we'll be able to adapt and bowl accordingly.”

This was Australia’s tenth consecutive series win with their last series defeat coming way back in 2017. According to Lanning, their effort to constantly improve as a group has been the secret to their success and they want to continue doing it in the lead up to 2022, where they will feature in three global events.

“The winning streak is not something we speak about a lot as a group, but we have spoken about is continuing to improve and get better, because if we don't do that, teams will catch up pretty quick. And there's a lot of really good teams out there who are trying to push the boundaries and become better as well,” she said.

“We saw Alyssa Healy speaking about some shots that she's introduced to a game. So, yeah, the drive for us to get better is still there, which is great to see, especially given the success that we've had over the last few years. We just keep getting better and we've got a year now to continue to do that before we get to 2022, which is going to be massive for us. So, it's really exciting that that's ahead of us,” Lanning concluded.