Australia have pointed to last year’s Twenty20 World Cup success as proof their title defence is not already over, adamant they can rebound from their flogging from New Zealand.

Saturday night’s 89-run defeat at the hands of the Black Caps marked the worst possible start for Australia, with six must-win games ahead to defend their title.

Australia’s net run-rate also copped a hammering, meaning it is possible they could go through the rest of the group stage unbeaten but still miss the finals.

Such a fate awaited South Africa in last year’s tournament, knocked out on net run-rate despite a 4-1 record in the group stage.

But Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald insists it is too soon to start working on those calculations.

Instead, he says his team now has clarity about the job at hand, with Australia having also recovered from an early loss to England to make last year’s finals.

“We’ve been here before. I think most teams have been here before,” McDonald said.

“First and foremost is not to look too far ahead. Sri Lanka is our next opponent in Perth. That is our next focus.

“What will happen with net run-rates and that will transpire across the tournament.

“Great clarity comes out of the disappointment of tonight. Once you get that clarity, it’s pretty simple … The boys are sitting in there pretty clear on what happens.”

Australia can also take solace from the fact New Zealand recovered a loss in their first game last year to make the final.

Australia have Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday, before their biggest challenge awaits against England on Friday before they finish up against Afghanistan and Ireland.

“We’ve taken the fate out of our own hands to a point,” captain Aaron Finch conceded.

“We need to be ultra-positive, ultra-aggressive, and I’m sure that we’ll all do that.

“T20 is a momentum game at times. It can be brutal at times.

“To be able to not look that far ahead is important because you can’t win the tournament if you don’t win the next game or the next contest.

“There’s a lot of big things that can distract you if you allow them. So the fact that we’ve lost one game, we can’t dwell on that.”

Spinner Adam Zampa admitted he felt flat after the loss, while others such as Mitch Marsh quipped to teammates that Australia were at their backs to the wall.

“If we can somehow start playing good cricket again and win those four games, then we give ourselves a chance,” Zampa said.

“It’s just about playing good cricket. We weren’t at our best going into the World Cup.

“We gave ourselves a few reasons. And then you pump yourself up for a World Cup and start like that, it is a bit flattening.

“But we have four games to turn that around.”

– AAP