Izzy Sharp is the youngest member of the New Zealand squad at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and wants the White Ferns to show that they are better than what they have achieved so far.
Coming into the competition as defending champions, the Kiwis suffered narrow defeats to the West Indies and Sri Lanka in their opening two fixtures before edging out Ireland by four runs to open their account in the tournament.
Next up in Bristol are Scotland, ranked 11th in the world, but in the same position as New Zealand with one win and two defeats, having also lost narrowly to the Windies before pushing England hard in Leeds last time out.
Other results have left New Zealand needing to win and hope for help from elsewhere, but for Sharp, the key is to focus on improving their own performances.
She said, “We have to acknowledge that it was a bit of a disappointing start, not what we wanted. We know we're better than that, but I think it's just keeping the vibes high.
“Scotland are definitely a great side. They put up a great fight against England, and they're much like Ireland, a team that we definitely can't take lightly.
“We've done our scouting, and again, it's just pressure, T20 World Cup, just absorbing it, putting pressure back on them and doing what we know we can do and just playing our best game.”
At 21, Sharp is competing on this stage for the first time, and found herself at the crease with the vastly experience Suzie Bates in the win over Ireland.
As the newcomer to the side, she has been welcomed with open arms by the more experienced members of the White Ferns squad, with Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu all signing off from international cricket after this tournament.
Sharp added, “It's been awesome, a huge step up, but this team has been awesome to be a part of. They're so welcoming, it's so enjoyable.
“There hasn't been a moment that I haven't enjoyed, so just still taking it all in. It's been an emotional start, disappointing start, but it's still been fun. I've loved it.”
Scotland scored 162 for seven in their chase against England, in a game that largely swung on a few chances going down in the field as the hosts batted first.
However, that performance, off the back of a thriller against the West Indies, has shown that they are not far off the best teams in the world.
Now, as they prepare to take on the fourth-ranked Kiwis, Megan McColl knows that they need to tighten up their fielding if they are to claim a big scalp.
She said, “Playing against England isn't something that we get to do very often, but I personally think on Saturday we went out there and showed how competitive we can be against one of the best teams in the world. Yes, we weren't perfect, but we definitely put England under pressure in big moments of that game.
“This World Cup, we are just showing that we can compete. At the last World Cup (Scotland’s first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup) we maybe didn't show that to our full extent.
“Over the two games that we lost, the West Indies and England, the big thing for us is, our fielding as a group has been really good this tournament, but also we've definitely made easy mistakes that we can clean up.
“The best in the world show that if you can just be clinical in the field, you're probably going to win more games of cricket.”