Sydney, Mar 19 (UNI) Australia and New Zealand are set to lock horns in a three-match T20I series starting on March 21.

Featuring the last two winners of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the series offers an opportunity to iron out their teams in the shortest format with one eye on the next edition of the tournament in 2026.

“I think they (fixtures) are really important. We're coming off the back of a successful series but we want to finish off the season really well,” Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke said.

“There are only nine T20Is between now and the next T20 World Cup. So when you start to break it up like that, every opportunity you get to play in that format is going to be really valuable for us,”

Nitschke said.

Nitschke said that the White Ferns will offer a stern challenge with the return of Sophie Devine, Melie Kerr and Lea Tahuhu in the T20I squad, an ICC report said.

“They're gonna be coming at us pretty hard. They're the T20 World Cup champions... they're back to full strength. Sophie (Devine) comes back in. So it should be a really exciting contest,” she said.

While Australia are coming into the series on the back of an Ashes series sweep against England at home, New Zealand played a 1-1 stalemate against Sri Lanka in the recent three-match T20I series.

For Australia, Beth Mooney is approaching a major milestone – her 200th international appearance for the national team.

Gushing praise of the wicketkeeper-batter, Nitschke added, “Moons has been really amazing with her consistency. That amount of time – 200 games – is such a fantastic feat.

“I think just the way the game has changed and Moons just keeps churning out the runs in all formats as well. She's just topped up a ton in Test match as well.

“To be so consistent with what she does in all three formats, she continues to evolve and change.

I think that's a massive effort. It's really a special day for her.”

UNI BM