Australia survived a tense chase to beat New Zealand by two wickets in the first ODI cricket match at Cazaly's Stadium, Cairns on Tuesday. The second match is scheduled for Thursday (September 8) at the same venue.
Chasing a target of 233 runs, the Aussies were 44/5 in 12 overs, but Alex Carey (85 off 99) and Cameron Green (89 not out off 92) fought back with a match-winning stand. Green eventually won the player of the award.
For the Kiwis, Trent Boult got four wickets for 40 runs in his spell of ten overs. Fellow pacers Matt Henry (2/50) and Lockie Ferguson (2/60) got a brace each.
Earlier, Australia restricted New Zealand to 232/9 with Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood taking four and three wickets respectively.
Devon Conway (46), Kane Williamson (45) and Tom Latham (43) got starts but none managed to build on a good enough innings to test a resolute-looking Aussie attack.
Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bowl first. Australia are coming off a series win over Zimbabwe. They recalled batter Marnus Labuschagne at the expense of spinner Ashton Agar, while New Zealand named pacer Lockie Ferguson in the playing XI.
Playing XIs
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steven Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
This was the 139th ODI meeting between the two teams. Australia lead New Zealand 93-39 in the head-to-head meetings, with seven matches ending in no results. Australia won the last two meetings. New Zealand's last win against the Aussies was in 2017.
The Trans-Tasman rivals will play three day-night matches in Cairns.
