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Emerging powerhouse Martin Guptill was on the verge of one of the great one-day innings when rain ended his courageous tilt at sealing an unlikely Chappell-Hadlee Trophy victory on Friday.
Guptill blasted an incredible 64 not out from just 34 deliveries to keep the Black Caps' hopes alive after they slipped to 73-6 in the wet conditions at the Gabba.
He shocked the hosts with his muscle at the top of the order in what Daniel Vettori hailed as "some of the best strokeplay I've ever seen".
Showing the confidence of Ricky Ponting and the force of Andrew Symonds, he looked like a veteran despite being a 22-year-old in his seventh one-day international.
"I feel pretty good at the moment," Guptill said.
"I'm finding some good areas and hitting the ball cleanly. It was good to get a good score from so few balls."
Guptill launched his second delivery for six behind square leg and pulled Mitchell Johnson's opening offering into the grandstand.
"I knew he was going to bounce me early," he said. "I saw it, went after it and it went into the first tier. That's one of the biggest hits in my career so far."
Another strike from Nathan Bracken carried the boundary at extra cover and he also smashed five fours to frighten the Australians.
He sped to a half-century in 24 balls and Ponting was so frustrated he yelled "what's going on?" as Guptill and debutant Brendon Diamanti took New Zealand closer to victory.
The fireworks lit up a gloomy night, but Guptill said the performance "was an exception".
"I'm attacking but probably not that attacking," he said.
Vettori was amazed by the power of Guptill's hitting on the big Gabba ground.
"That was a fantastic innings, some of the best strokeplay I've ever seen," Vettori said.
"It was some clean hitting and those are some pretty big boundaries he's clearing. Those are really big hits back in New Zealand."
Diamanti showed few batting nerves after his opening actions included being thrashed by an in-form Brad Haddin.
His two overs of medium pace went for 25, but he lifted his mark with a cool 26 off 22 deliveries in the 50-run stand with Guptill.
"I haven't seen Brendon play a lot," Vettori said. "I've faced him bowling, but haven't seen his batting. He was only notified he was in the team half an hour before the toss.
"While he didn't bowl as well as he'd liked, he fielded exceptionally well and had a calm head with the bat."
Vettori was pleased that two inexperienced players could mount such a confident chase towards the end of a pressure game.
"That's pretty impressive doing that against Australia in a must-win situation," he said.
The performance of the team over the past two weeks has given Vettori confidence that his one-day and twenty20 outfits are developing to a level that is high enough to challenge the game's best sides.
Leading Australia 2-0 exceeded the Black Caps' initial expectations but, by the end of the series, the players were disappointed to have come away with a commendable 2-2 result, which left the trophy in Australia.
"I'm happy that these guys keep turning up and performing," Vettori said.
"If you look at the line-up, Martin Guptill continues to impress, Grant Elliott had a successful series, Neil Broom has impressed me and Iain O'Brien has done a pretty good job with his role in the side.
"Throw the likes of Styris, Oram and Ryder back in the mix and you have a nice group of 15 or 16 guys."
New Zealand face India next month in a five-match one-day series after two twenty20 games in Christchurch and Wellington on February 25 and 27.
