Australian captain Rachael Haynes has criticised her side's effort but stopped short of blaming their loss in the second women's Ashes Twenty20 on complacency after having already retained the urn.
The hosts' batting crumbled while chasing England's 6-152 in Canberra on Sunday in the 40-run defeat, two days after a dominant win in the first of three T20s gave them an unassailable lead in the multi-format series.
The result leaves the series at 8-6 and England with hope of stealing a draw by winning Tuesday's T20 decider at Manuka Oval.
Haynes was reluctant to entertain suggestions her team had begun celebrations too early, also conceding failing to win the series would not be good enough.
"We're playing a game for our country, so I'd be pretty disappointed if anyone in the change rooms found it really difficult to play today," the middle-order player said.
"I think it was a pretty disappointing effort considering the excitement we came off the other day in retaining the series.
"We wanted to come out and finish the series really well. I think we were off the boil today. Unfortunately, today, everyone just left it to someone else rather than taking ownership of it.
"There's lot on the line. So I think despite the fact we have retained the Ashes series, we really want to win this series as well quite emphatically. We don't want to finish on eight points each."
The home side endured a 10-67 collapse on Sunday on a good batting pitch after their bowlers restricted England to the modest total, with opener Alyssa Healy the only Australian to score more than 20 runs.
The finale could be considered wide open given Australia's recent struggles to close out T20 contests, with its series last win coming in mid-2015 against Ireland.
"I think we've got a lot to prove in this format," Haynes said.
"So I think the way we approach our cricket in this format, particularly with the World Cup coming up (next year), is really important.
"We expect more of each other. In game one, we showed what we're capable of. I think we've got plenty left to give as a group. Despite the fact it has been a long tour, we want to finish really strongly."
