KEY POINTS:
New Zealand stunned reigning world one-day cricket champions Australia by chasing down a record 347 to sweep the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series 3-0 at Seddon Park in Hamilton tonight.
Brendon McCullum struck the winning runs with three balls remaining, to propel the Black Caps to 350 for nine -- outstripping their successful pursuit of 337 in Auckland on Sunday.
McCullum was unbeaten on 86 off 89 balls while Craig McMillan also engineered the victory with a career-high 117.
Reeling at 41 for four inside the first 10 overs, the Black Caps staged a middle order fight back through McMillan, McCullum and Peter Fulton.
Fulton smashed 51 off 40 deliveries and together with McMillan put on 75 for the fifth wicket to steady New Zealand's innings.
When Fulton was dismissed by Shane Watson McCullum entered the fray and along with McMillan put on an invaluable 165 sixth-wicket partnership to put the home side in a run-a-ball situation
Wickets in hand was always going to be a problem for the Black Caps and when McMillan was bowled in the 42nd over and James Franklin and Daryl Tuffey departed almost immediately after New Zealand looked destined for defeat.
However, McCullum found an unlikely ally in pace bowler Mark Gillespie, who smashed 28 off 15 balls to help set up the last-over victory.
Earlier, Matthew Hayden smashed an unbeaten 181 -- the highest score by an Australian one-day batsman -- to leave New Zealand a massive mountain to climb to complete the whitewash.
Hayden, batting with a runner after being struck on the foot by Gillespie shortly after reaching his seventh one-day century, plundered 79 runs off his last 38 balls faced as Australia compiled a daunting 346 for five.
The opener's astonishing assault eclipsed Australia's previous best, 173 by Mark Waugh against West Indies in 2001.
While Hayden, who smashed 10 sixes, during his 165-ball masterclass was celebrating his milestone, Gillespie inherited the unwanted accolade of producing New Zealand's most expensive 10-over spell in international limited over cricket.
His first two overs leaked 20 runs and he eventually conceded 83 with only the consolation of Michael Hussey and Cameron White's wickets to ease the pain.
Gillespie's effort pushed Tuffey's 0-80 at Eden Park on Sunday and Tama Canning's 0-80 against Australia in Napier in 2004-05 down the pecking order.
SCOREBOARD
Australia
M Hayden not out 181
S Watson lbw Patel 68
B Haddin c Vincent b Tuffey 38
B Hodge b Patel 12
M Hussey c McCullum b Gillespie 13
C White c Styris b Gillespie 13
A Voges not out 16
Extras (1b, 1lb, 2nb, 1w) 5
Total (for 5 wkts, 50 overs) 346
Fall: 122 (Watson), 210 (Haddin), 251 (Hodge), 279 (Hussey), 302 (White)
Bowling: D Tuffey 10-0-68-1, J Franklin 10-0-43-0, M Gillespie 10-0-83-2 (2nb), J Patel 10-0-70-2 (1w), S Styris 8-0-52-0, C McMillan 2-0-28-0
New Zealand
L Vincent c Hogg b Tait 11
S Fleming c Hodge b Tait 9
R Taylor c and b Bracken 11
S Styris c Haddin b Johnson 0
R Taylor c Hussey b Watson 51
C McMillan b Watson 117
B McCullum not out 86
J Franklin c Voges b Johnson 2
D Tuffey c Haddin b Johnson 8
M Gillespie run out (Voges) 28
J Patel not out 0
Extras (4lb, 22w, 1nb) 27
Total (for 9 wkts, 49.3 overs) 350
Fall: 23 (Fleming), 34 (Vincent), 38 (Taylor), 44 (Styris), 116 (Fulton), 281 (Watson), 285 (Franklin), 303 (Tuffey), 339 (Gillespie)
Bowling: N Bracken 9.3-0-44-1 (3w), S Tait 10-0-60-2 (11w), M Johnson 10-0-81-3 (5w), S Watson 10-0-88-2 (1nb, 2w), B Hogg 7-0-40-0 (1w), A Voges 3-0-33-0.
Result: New Zealand win by one wicket, win series 3-0.
- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA
