Devon Conway starred with the bat at Hagley Oval as New Zealand won the first of five Twenty20 clashes with Australia by 53 runs.
Conway was 99 not out, becoming the first New Zealand player to score five successive T20 half centuries, as the Black Caps posted 184-5.
A fine showing with the ball, led by Ish Sodhi's 4-28, limited Australia to 131 all out in reply as the hosts enjoyed a dominant victory in Christchurch, a city remembering the devastating earthquakes that struck 10 years ago.
Martin Guptill started this match needing 12 runs to surpass Brendon McCullum's record as the highest run-scorer in this fixture (228) but was dismissed for a duck, caught at backward point off the bowling of Daniel Sams.
New Zealand looked to be in serious trouble when captain Kane Williamson's departure in the fourth over left them on 19-3 and with a lot of work to do.
But Conway laid the foundations with a fine knock, which came up just shy of yielding a century despite 10 fours and three maximums.
Conway was on 88 when he got on strike with three balls left, sending the first for a six and the next one for four, but he could only manage a single off the final delivery.
Aaron Finch's side, having lost back-to-back series against England and India, toiled in response.
Finch himself fell inside the first over and that set the tone, with Australia languishing on 19-4 by the fifth over.
Sodhi was the tormentor-in-chief for the tourists' mid-to-lower order, accounting for Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Sams and Kane Richardson.
Jhye Richardson, who fetched a "life-changing" bid at the Indian Premier League auction, was the last man to fall in a substandard innings from Australia that was ended after 17.3 overs.
This was just the second home win for New Zealand over Australia in this format in six attempts, with the teams set to meet again on Thursday.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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