Katey Martin says New Zealand desperately need to tighten up their fielding after two dropped catches against Shafali Verma proved costly in their four-run defeat to India.

The White Ferns managed to hold India at 133/8 in Melbourne, dismissing Smriti Mandhana for 11 and captain Harmanpreet Kaur for one, but they were left rueing missed opportunities to remove the dangerous Verma.

Verma, who won her second Player of the Match award after her 34-ball 46, was twice given a life after Maddy Green and Lea Tahuhu spilled opportunities. And Martin says her side have no option but to fine tune their fielding if they want to progress to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup knockout stages.

“We are rueing those missed opportunities in the field,” said Martin, who put on a 43-run partnership with Green to keep New Zealand in the game. “We batted really well in the end to get us so close.

“There are some tough chances, but we really need to be taking those. We’ve been making big strides in our fielding and it’s something we normally pride ourselves on. We put a big focus on getting off the boundary rope. We will continue to do the work we’ve been doing and hopefully some of those chances will begin to stick and go our way.

“We now have a must-win match against Australia in our last game, but before then we’d rather be in a position where we have an opportunity to go through or not. We’re fully focused on our next game against Bangladesh.”

Verma was denied her first Women’s T20 World Cup half-century by the ever-impressive Amelia Kerr, the teenage New Zealand leg-spinner taking the innings-changing wicket before coming close to rescuing a comeback for the White Ferns with 34 runs late on.

And while the teenagers shone at the Junction Oval, India will have their bowlers to thank for sealing their third successive victory of the tournament, Poonam Yadav taking the crucial wicket of Devine before Shikha Pandey held her nerve in the final over.

Bhatia: Middle-order will hit form

India’s bowling exploits have been crucial in sealing their semi-final spot but for wicketkeeper Tanya Bhatia, it’s only a matter of time until her side’s top-order return to form. “We’re in a really positive position,” said Bhatia. “We’ve been playing well ever since the tri-series.

“I think we’ve got a lot better as a team in working out how to handle and read situations well. We’re playing well, it’s just one or two odd games where more of us batters underperform, but I think Shafali is giving us a good start and the rest of us batters will take up responsibility.

“I’m ready to bat wherever the team wants me to bat. I can bat well up the order and I know I’m capable of scoring runs there. The results are in our favour but we need to keep up the momentum. If we do that, we will do well and hopefully reach the finals.”