Australia have one foot in the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals after bulldozing New Zealand by 60 runs on a low and slow surface in Sharjah, as Megan Schutt entered the tournament record books.

The victory and its wide margin leaves Alyssa Healy’s side as the only unbeaten team in their group, and they can secure their passage by beating Pakistan on Friday night.

New Zealand will rue a marginal umpiring decision that may have swayed momentum after Australia batted first. Amelia Kerr thought she had caught Phoebe Litchfield on one, running in from midwicket to claim a miscued pull shot.

But the third umpire decided that Kerry had grounded the ball, leaving the Kiwis stunned and allowing Litchfield and Ellyse Perry to maintain the innings’ momentum as the Australians ultimately posted 8-148, despite wrist spinner Kerr’s haul of 4-26.

As she had done in the opening game, Beth Mooney (40) put together an innings of substance, assisted by cameos from skipper Healy (26), Perry (30) and Litchfield (18). Tahlia McGrath and Sophie Molineux pinched a priceless 17 from the final two overs.

That tally proved well beyond New Zealand, with Schutt scooping 3-3 from 3.2 extremely tight overs, supported by Annabel Sutherland (3-21) and the left-arm spinner Molineux (2-15) to roll Sophie Devine’s team for 88. From 1-54, New Zealand lost all nine wickets for just 34.

“Yeah, it’s not far off,” Mooney said when asked if this was Australia’s most complete performance in some time. “I think if we’re being really critical we probably missed out on a few with the bat towards the middle on the back end there with a few wickets in a row but certainly really pleasing the spot that we’ve got ourselves into in this tournament.

“Seeing the likes of Megan and Annabel Sutherland coming to the fore on wickets that are perhaps considered a bit more spin friendly that those guys are having a huge impact so yeah really pleasing where we’re at and certainly very happy with that result tonight.”