New Zealand have thumbed their noses at those anticipating a green and gold march over the coming weeks.
On a rollicking night, they beat Australia in a one-over decider after their second Twenty20 international was tied.
It was set up by Brendon McCullum in one of the great Twenty20 innings. In a thrilling contest, he helped to banish lingering negative vibes that New Zealand would be a pushover.
McCullum's stunning 116 off just 56 balls pushed New Zealand to their highest Twenty20 total, 214 for six - the equal sixth highest ever.
However, Cameron White's blazing 64 not out off 26 balls, with captain Michael Clarke's 67 off 45 balls, got Australia up for a tie.
Clarke was run out going back for the winning run off the final ball, beaten by Nathan McCullum's fine stop-and-throw from long on back to bowler Tim Southee.
So to the tie-break. Southee, displaying a remarkably cool head, conceded just six runs before Martin Guptill's slashed boundary off speedster Shaun Tait got New Zealand the win with three balls up their sleeve.
The result spices up the ODIs, which start in Napier on Wednesday, and also stopped Australia's undefeated run this summer at 20 games.
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