Captain Suzie Bates has pronounced her New Zealand team as the best she has led at a women's World Twenty20 on the eve of their crunch pool game against Australia.
The White Ferns have eased to wins over Sri Lanka and Ireland heading into a showdown with the three-time defending champions in Nagpur, India, on Monday.
Australia accounted for South Africa in their first game and the trans-Tasman clash is likely to determine the winner of the five-team pool.
Bates says she takes some confidence from the 2-1 T20 series win over Australia on New Zealand soil in February but acknowledges conditions at the spin-friendly VCA Stadium will be vastly different.
More comforting for her is the international miles on the clock tallied up by most of the players in her side.
Composure and nous have let them down previously at a tournament where they have never reached the final in four attempts.
"Every time I've come over with the White Ferns, I've felt sure we've had a team to win the tournament but we haven't got over the finish line," world class opener Bates said.
"I really believe in this group. The age and some of the experience we have at the moment will help us at the end of the tournament. I do believe we're in the best space to be able to win it this time."
A loss to Australia may leave New Zealand needing victory over South Africa in their final game to guarantee a passage to the semi-finals.
That would mirror the scenario of 2014 in Bangladesh, when a shock loss to the South Africans meant they fell short of the play-offs on run rate.
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