SCOTT Styris and Shane Bond were the unlikely heroes for New Zealand as they won a tense opening Chappell-Hadlee one-day international in Napier against Australia by two wickets.
Chasing 275 for eight, the pair got the Black Caps across the line after Ross Taylor’s 70 had built on the good start by Brendon McCullum (45) and Peter Ingram (40).
Styris, who finished on 49 not out off just 34 balls, smacked a six off Doug Bollinger in the final over to lift the Black Caps to 281 for eight to seal the victory with four balls remaining.
The all-rounder was a late inclusion in the starting line-up after captain Daniel Vettori was ruled out with a neck injury which saw Taylor assume the captaincy.
Bond (11 not out) played his part too, hitting two crucial boundaries off Shane Watson to level the scores with an over to go. He also enjoyed success with the ball taking two for 50 from his 10 overs, including the key wicket of Michael Hussey.
But it was not all good news for New Zealand as all-rounder Jacob Oram suffered a knee injury while fielding and had to be helped from the field midway through Australia’s innings and took no further part in proceedings.
In many ways the two sides’ innings were very similar as Watson (45) got Australia off to a blistering start before they were pegged back by some tight bowling from New Zealand and kept below the 300-run mark on a pitch expected to be full of runs.
It took a run-a-ball 59 from Hussey late in the innings and 33 runs each from Cameron White and James Hopes to get a competitive total on the board.
New Zealand also lost key wickets at vital times and the dismissal of Taylor in the 39th over left the match in the balance.
When Taylor holed out in the deep to Hussey off Watson, the Black Caps were 204 for five and the wickets fell regularly after that with Neil Broom, Daryl Tuffey and Tim Southee all dismissed with the addition of just 42 runs.
But Styris and Bond stood firm in the face of the fired-up Australians to earn the hosts a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

AUSTRALIA innings
S. Watson c Ingram b Oram    45
B. Haddin b Bond    12
R. Ponting c Guptill b Franklin    44
M. Clarke c wkp. McCullum b Tuffey    22
C. White b Tuffey    33
M. Hussey b Bond    59
J. Hopes b Southee    33
M. Johnson not out    21
N. Hauritz c sub. (N. McCullum b Tuffey    4
R. Harris  not out    0
Extras: (b-1, w-1)    2
Total: (8 wickets, 50 overs)    275
Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-58, 3-100, 4-148, 5-172, 6-244, 7-252, 8-268.
Bowling:     T. Southee  8-0-66-1, S. Bond10-1-50-2  (w-1), J. Oram 7-0-29-1, D. Tuffey 10-0-58-3, J. Franklin 9-0-44-1, S. Styris 6-0-27-0.

NEW ZEALAND innings
B. McCullum b Bollinger    45
P. Ingram c Hussey b Johnson    40
M. Guptill c Watson b Hopes    9
R. Taylor c Hussey v Watson    70
J. Franklin c wkp. Haddin b Hauritz    12
N. Broom b Bollinger    19
S. Styris not out    49
D. Tuffey b Harris    12
T. Southee run-out    2
S. Bond not out    11
Extras: (1b-10, w-2)    12
Total: (8 wickets, 49.2 overs)    281
Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-90, 3-106, 4-175, 5-204, 6-207, 7-234, 8-246.
Bowling: R. Harris 10—1-57-1, D. Bollinger 9.2 -0-58-2, M. Johnson 10-1-46-1 (w-1), J. Hopes 6-0-40-1, S. Watson 9-0-47-1 (w-1), M. Clarke 2-0-8-0, N. Hauritz 3-0-15-0.