SOUTHERN Stars assistant coach Tim Coyle wasn’t mincing his words as the team’s Twenty20 world title defence came off the rails against New Zealand.

“The expectation of a close game between the two top teams in the pool failed to eventuate with the New Zealand women proving far too good for an under-performing Australian team,” Coyle reported from Nagpur in India.

The former Tasmanian Tigers coach said Australia got off to a “disastrous start” after claiming first use of a wicket expected to turn then collapsing to be 4-4, which included the run out of captain Meg Lanning without scoring.

When Ellyse Perry (42) helped the team scrape to 8-103 hopes remained high but the Kiwis cruised home by reaching 4-104 in the 17^th over.

“It is time now to regroup quickly as we move to Delhi for the third and fourth games against Sri Lanka and Ireland,” Coyle added.