• New Zealand face period of introspection after loss against Australia.
• Australia swept the series with a 25-run victory in the third one-day international on Sunday.
• They struggle to regenerate as a result of the retirement of key personnel and the allure of lucrative T20 tournaments

After a devastating white-ball series loss to Australia shook the Black Caps’ morale ahead of the T20 World Cup, dejected New Zealand will undergo some introspection at home.

After New Zealand blew winning opportunities in the first two games, Australia swept the series with a 25-run victory in the third one-day international on Sunday in Cairns to finish the job with a 3-0 victory.

In any format, New Zealand last defeated Australia in 2011 in a test at Hobart, winning by a score of 7-runs. The T20 World Cup will be held in Australia in October, but Kane Williamson’s team is yet to defeat the reigning winners there.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead told reporters that “it was a pretty frustrated dressing room last night”

“The guys are disappointed and we’re frustrated to think of having opportunities in all three matches and not getting over the line,” he added.

After humiliating Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands on white-ball tours, the Black Caps, who were defeated by Australia in the T20 World Cup final last year in the United Arab Emirates, won their first T20 and one-day series away to the West Indies last month.

They struggle to regenerate as a result of the retirement of key personnel and the allure of lucrative T20 tournaments, and they have a lot to be concerned about.

Through the Chappell-Hadlee series, no New Zealand batsman reached a half-century, and selectors will be concerned about how to replace pace spearhead Trent Boult in the long run after his decision to give up his central contract.

Boult, who led the ODI series against Australia with 10 wickets, will still represent his nation but in a “much reduced capacity,” New Zealand Cricket announced last month.

He will be available for selection for the T20 World Cup warm-up matches beginning on October 8 in Christchurch against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Stead said, “He’s been a fine bowler and still is a fine bowler for New Zealand and that showed through this series against Australia as well,”

“If Trent is there then I think we look like a stronger team but we have to make some decisions around what that looks like for us going forward as well, because we do have to keep developing our depth.”

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