Tuesday's inaugural One-Day International match between Australia and New Zealand in Cairns ended in a two-wicket victory for Australia thanks to a magnificent 158-run combination between Alex Carey and Cameron Green and a four-wicket haul from Glenn Maxwell.
Carey (85 off 99 balls) and Green (89 not out off 92 balls), who joined forces at 5/44 in response to New Zealand's 232, excelled on a Cazalys Stadium field where nearly every other hitter had encountered difficulties.
Despite having left leg cramps, Green persisted as he and Adam Zampa's 26-run ninth-wicket partnership carried Australia to victory by two wickets in a nail-biting finish.
However, Australia's victory wasn't a straightforward two-wicket victory; Carey's removal with 31 runs needed set off a mini-collapse that saw Maxwell (two off eight) and Mitch Starc (one off three) come in short succession. With 23 runs still needed, play was stopped for seven minutes while Green received treatment for his left leg, and with four runs left, there was a brief rain delay.
With a career-high 89, Green finished the game unbeaten in the non-strikers end, giving Australia a thrilling victory thanks to Lockie Ferguson's leg-side wide.
Prior to that, Australia captain Aaron Finch selected to field first after winning the toss for the first ODI.
Martin Guptill scored six runs off the first two balls he faced from Mitchell Starc in the first exciting over, including a crisp flick past fine-leg for four. At the end of the over, he was declared out by LBW, but he managed to survive on six after a successful review.
Maxwell made a fantastic grab at the backward point, which allowed Starc to catch Guptill in the fifth over and win the match.
As Australia held New Zealand to a below-par score of 232/9, Glenn Maxwell secured a four-wicket haul.
For the visitors, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, and Tom Latham received starts, but they were unable to turn them into significant scores. When Martin Guptill attempted to push an away-seamer from Starc towards backward point, New Zealand, who had been given the opportunity to bat, got off to a bad start. Maxwell made a stunning catch. After that, Conway and Williamson teamed together to share an 81-run second-wicket stand.
Although none of the New Zealanders reached 50, there were steady partnerships that lasted the entire innings.
Brief scores: New Zealand 232/9 in 50 overs (Devon Conway 46, Kane Williamson 45; Glenn Maxwell 4-52) lost to Australia 233/8 in 45 overs (Cameron Green 89, Alex Carey 85; Trent Boult 4-40) by 2 wickets.