Australia expected to whitewash the women's Ashes Twenty20 series but a 2-1 loss has instead raised questions about their credentials ahead of next year's World T20.
Coach Matthew Mott has blamed missed opportunities for ending their successful Ashes campaign on a sour note with two consecutive defeats to England, who won the T20 component of the multi-format series and forced an 8-8 draw in overall points.
It was Australia's fifth T20 series loss in the last six contests, with Tuesday's finale in Canberra punctuated by four dropped catches to undo a blistering 117 not out by star opener Beth Mooney in the four-wicket loss.
"It's just a shame for someone like Beth, who played the innings of her life and just made such a great statement for our group and how we want to play the game," Mott said.
"We can't hide from the fact we dropped four catches. That freed them up to go pretty hard.
"I think the nature of T20 can get a little bit infectious. The game's so fast. You don't have time to reassess and take time."
Mooney's century was the first in women's T20 internationals in Australia, but counterpart Danielle Wyatt (100 off 57 balls) hit the second as England chased down a record 178 at Manuka Oval.
It sparked mixed emotions as Australia lifted the trophy on the same night, having retained the Ashes with victory in the opening T20 match in Sydney last week.
Mott rated the hosts' performance across the three formats as "excellent" in patches, but wasn't panicking about failing to ice the series.
"Are we disappointed? Yeah, because this could have been the icing on the cake," Mott said.
"If we'd closed that game out like we should have and probably bowled them out for 100, I think we'd be sitting here saying, there's so many positives.
"When the pressure of the series was there to be won, I think we stood up and delivered really well.
"The T20 the other night, we had another good start but missed an opportunity to bury them.
"I think we're the better cricket team. We can't really say that because it ended up 8-8. We retain the Ashes and at the end of the day, we're probably happier than them."
Mooney downplayed the significance of the result ahead of the World T20 in the West Indies next November.
"The calibre of players we have in this team suggests our group can go a long way in a short amount of time," she said.
"We'll be able to turn this bittersweet feeling around."
