Matthew Wade's unbeaten 71 has led Australia  to a 59-run victory in the series-opening one-dayer in Southampton.
In a match beset with batsmen squandering strong starts, the wicketkeeper's 50-ball innings was pivotal in Australia recovering from 6-193 to post 6-305 after choosing to bat first at the expansive Ageas Bowl.
England were well placed at 2-146 at the half-way mark of their chase but stumbled, most drastically when they lost 3-0 off four deliveries to slump to 7-194 in the 37th over. 
Their task of scoring 86 in the last 10 overs with only three wickets in hand became even more difficult when all-rounder Adil Rashid edged behind to start to 41st over, meaning Moeen Ali would need to lead England home with the support of bowlers Mark Wood and Steve Finn.
Ali's departure for 17 meant England had lost 6-60 within 10 overs. The resistance of the last pair ended in the 46th over as England were bowled out for 246. 
Wade, in his first series since succeeding Brad Haddin as Australia's preferred limited-overs gloveman, produced a characteristically defiant innings. He and Mitch Marsh added 104 from the last 11 overs, undaunted by the realisation that the loss of either of them would have exposed Australia's lower order, to help them overcome their mid-innings collapse of 6-60, which England later replicated, to post 305.
His innings featured 12 boundaries, many of them aggressive cuts and risky paddles. One of the latter involved him crouching and taking Chris Woakes from outside off-stump to beat fine-leg.
Even though the arena was large, especially compared to the preceding Twenty20 match in Cardiff where the straight boundaries were tiny, openers Joe Burns and David Warner managed only six singles in the powerplay.
That Warner hit only one boundary in the opening 12 overs did not reflect how comfortable he looked at the crease against all of the Englishmen, while the regularity with which Burns bound the boundary would have encouraged the Australian hierarchy, even though he departed six short of a half-century.
Captain Smith signalled before the match their priority was to keep wickets in hand for the last 10 overs, so they had licence to attack. By the half-way mark the visitors had coasted to 1-126, even while allowing 81 dots from their 150 deliveries to that stage.
Warner looked poised for a huge score as he reached his half-century in 23rd over, the first time he had posted consecutive 50-plus scores in one-dayers since   March 2012. He became the second - but not the last - Australian batsman to squander a good start. Like Burns, he was deceived by leg-spinner Rashid, slicing a catch to short third-man for 59.
Every Australian batsman from No.3 to No.6 got a start - and then fell short of a half-century. The most overtly angry at that was the captain, Smith. After blasting Rashid over long-on for six from the very next delivery he dragged a full-toss into the hands of Stokes at deep mid-wicket, prompting a furious swing of the bat towards the non-striker's stumps as he began his walk tot the dressing rooms.
From 1-133 in the 27th over the visitors had slumped to 6-193 by the end of the 37th, as George Bailey (23), Glenn Maxwell (15) and Shane Watson (6 fell). Watson was the least culpable of the casualties. Even though he was on his heels at the non-striker's end Wade's attempted single to short cover, to Stokes' favoured right-hand side, was too risky.
It took Wade nine deliveries to get off the mark, but once he did he impressively led Australia's recovery effort. Once he and Marsh took Australia past 200 in the 39th over they scored from all but 15 balls in the last 11 overs, including all but three in the last five.
England's chase started positively, with openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales forcing the world's top-ranked one-day bowler, Mitch Starc, from the attack after taking him for 29 runs from his three overs with the new ball.
The home team's top three replicated Australia's, in that all impressed without any of them converting a good start into an innings-anchoring score. Roy easily looked the best of the three - some of the right-hander's leg-side drives were of conspicuously high quality - which made his meek cut to point from the off-spin of Maxwell so disappointing.
James Taylor failed to heed to warning he got advancing to Watson in 27th over when he advanced the Australian and inside-edge him for a boundary. When he advanced to the next delivery too he was bowled for 49 - and left to a death stare from the typically emotional Watson.
Smith waited until the 29th over to recall Starc. The change from his first spell was, well, stark. In three overs he conceded only six runs and removed Stokes for England to be 4-172, with Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler left to lead the recovery. Both departed to poor shots, with Morgan gloving an attempted pull off Watson and Buttler driving Nathan Coulter-Nile straight to Marsh at mid-off.
England's victories in the Ashes and even Monday's one-off Twenty20 raised expectations of the new start for the one-day team, but the way the match so easily slipped from their grasp was instead more of the same from the team who were so far off the pace in the World Cup earlier this year.