Aussie captain Healy preparing for under-fire NZ's best

Australia will reignite their fierce rivalry with New Zealand as they prepare to defend their Twenty20 World Cup crown.

Alyssa Healy's team lock horns with the White Ferns in Mackay on Thursday night in the first of three matches.

It is the first time the teams have clashed in a bilateral series since March 2021, with Healy joking New Zealand have only agreed to a battle now that former Australian superstar Meg Lanning has retired.

"It's pretty friendly but at the same time pretty fierce on the field," Healy said on Wednesday when asked about the Australia-New Zealand rivalry.

"A lot of them come out and play in the WBBL and we've shared a lot of experiences around the world in franchises.

"We haven't played them in a bilateral series for a long period of time and it will be good to pick it up again."

New Zealand face an uphill battle to avoid their worst losing streak in T20s.

The White Ferns head to Mackay having lost their last seven matches, with a loss in the series-opener to equal their eight-game streak in 2018.

Since the start of 2023, New Zealand have won just seven of 23 T20Is, including recently losing a series to Pakistan for the first time.

Australia are chasing an unprecedented fourth-straight T20 World Cup title in the UAE next month and will clash with the White Ferns in their second game of the tournament on October 9.

The teams will play in Mackay again on Sunday, before finishing the series in Brisbane with a match at Allan Border Field on Tuesday night.