Veteran Scott Styris blasted a quickfire 49 to propel the New Zealand cricketers to a two-wicket win over Australia in Napier in the first of their five-match one-day series.
Australia posted 275 for 8, largely thanks to 59 to Mike Hussey and 45 to Shane Watson, but they lost wickets regularly.
Standin captain Ross Taylor made 70, Brendon McCullum 45 and Peter Ingram 40, while Styris hit Doug Bollinger for a match-winning six in the final over.
Styris was only playing because captain Dan Vettori pulled out with a neck injury, while the Black Caps lost Jacob Oram during the match with a knee injury.
Styris says he was a little bit rusty to start with but thankfully once the powerplay came he was able to get his shots away.
The defeat was Australia's first in 13 matches and follows a super-over defeat in the final Twenty20 in Christchurch on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Styris and Australia bowler Mitchell Johnson were penalised by officials after an unseemly altercation in the 46th over of the New Zealand innings.
Initially, there was a verbal exchange between the two players but Johnson approached Styris and made what the umpires felt was deliberate and inappropriate physical contact with his opponent.
Johnson was fined 60% of his match fee and Styris 15% of his fee.
The next match is in Auckland on Saturday.
