Cricket: Five-in-a-row has White Ferns eyeing Twenty20 victory in May

New Zealand 5, Australia 0.

And it's cricket too, but not the blokes.

The White Ferns made it five straight Twenty20 wins over the Aussies with a 17-run victory at AMI Stadium yesterday and gives them some real momentum to take into both the three ODIs to follow and the world Twenty20 in the Caribbean in May.

New Zealand were in deep trouble early, Australian opening bowler Ellyse Perry taking three wickets with her first eight balls to have the hosts reeling at five for three.

However, lefthander Amy Satterthwaite revived the New Zealand innings with some clean hitting and smart running.

Her 42 off 47 balls ensured New Zealand reached 115 for nine.

Australia lost wickets regularly but were still in good shape, with experienced opener Shelley Nitschke anchoring the innings. But they lost their way to the point where 34 were needed off the last three overs.

A combination of fine fielding and savvy bowling meant four wickets fell in the next two overs, Sarah McGlashan taking a fine running catch at long on to remove Nitschke for 45 as the tail folded.

Australia won their five-game ODI series across the Tasman 5-0, but Satterthwaite believes the back-to-back wins in the shorter form over the last three days, after winning all three of those games in Australia, will hold New Zealand in good stead.

"Our team is a little better suited to Twenty20. We've got big hitters and we've worked really hard on our death bowling," Satterthwaite said.

"This gives us a lot of confidence to improve in the one-dayers."