Australia's turbo-charged Eden Park meltdown has brutally highlighted the difficulties Steve Smith's men will face in New Zealand this month as they aim to regain the No.1 Test ranking.
The 159-run capitulation to a rampant Black Caps outfit on Wednesday may have come in the 50-over arena but it inspired little confidence for success in the upcoming Test series.
The heavy loss has put the one-day world champion's run of seven consecutive series victories in grave danger and again shone the spotlight on Australia's weakness against the swinging ball. The shell-shocked Australians, who crumbled inside 25 overs before the lights had taken full effect, have just two days to work on their flaws before the second match in Wellington and little over a week until the first Test. The flat tracks of home must now seem a world away for Australia's batsmen, whose torrent of runs slowed to a trickle against a red-hot Kiwi pace attack. 
Just as they did when they visited the same venue in the World Cup, Australia folded with the bat, dismissed for a paltry 148 after collapsing to 6-41 in nine dramatic overs. It would have been far worse if not for the 79-run stand between Matthew Wade and James Faulkner - an Australian record for the seventh wicket against New Zealand. Neither are in the Test squad.
The wicket at Eden Park was hardly a batsman's graveyard. It had earlier played true enough for the Kiwis to amass 307. Yet again, Australia's inability to safely negotiate the swinging ball has resulted in an embarrassing collapse.
There had been a suspicion all summer that Australia's new-look batting line-up had been shielded by a combination of benign tracks and poor opposition. Worryingly for Australia, the XI in Auckland contained three of the likely top six for the first Test, including senior pair Smith and David Warner. Joe Burns and Adam Voges would have been well served had they avoided their TV sets, while Usman Khawaja can consider this a bullet dodged. Worse still, the Black Caps were without Tim Southee.
There will also be concerns at why Australia's bowlers were unable to extract the same movement through the air as Trent Boult and Matt Henry. Smith has stressed to his players the need to respect the new ball in New Zealand conditions but it appears his words have fallen on deaf ears. He too was guilty of playing too hard.
The sight of Shaun Marsh nicking off on five will come as no surprise to followers of his career though it had been hoped he had turned the corner this summer. The jury remains firmly out.
Warner can consider himself unlucky to be fired out leg before wicket though he erred in not sending the decision upstairs as he would have been reprieved.
There was no revival from the middle order either with George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh all going cheaply to a combination of poor shot selection (Bailey), a freakish catch (Maxwell) and technique (Marsh).


SCOREBOARD            ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL
NEW ZEALAND v AUSTRALIA
At Eden Park
New Zealand
Batsman                                           Runs Balls
M GUPTILL   run out                              90 (76)
B McCULLUM   b Faulkner                      44 (29)
K WILLIAMSON  c S Marsh b Hazlewood        0 (8)
H NICHOLLS   c Wade b M Marsh              61 (67)
G ELLIOTT   c Hastings b M Marsh      21 (18)
C ANDERSON   c Rich'son b Hastings      10 (20)
L RONCHI          b Hazlewood                      16 (26)
M SANTNER   not out                              35 (39)
A MILNE           c&b Faulkner                      14 (10)
M HENRY           not out                                5 (7)
Sundries           (1b, 3lb, 7w)                      11
Total                   8 wickets for                     307
Fall: 79, 81, 181, 205, 231, 234, 263, 290
Bowling: J Hazlewood 10-1-68-2 (1w), K Richardson 10-1-64-0, J Hastings 10-0-39-1, J Faulkner 10-0-67-2, G Maxwell 3-0-30-0 (2w), M Marsh 7-0-35-2
Batting time: 216 minsOvers: 50

AUSTRALIA
Batsman                                              Runs Balls
S MARSH          c Guptill b Henry                5 (8)
D WARNER  lbw Boult                              12 (11)
S SMITH          b Henry                              18 (17)
G BAILEY          c Anderson b Henry                2 (10)
G MAXWELL  c Williamson b Boult                0 (3)
M MARSH          c McCullum b Boult                0 (4)
M WADE          c Nicholls b Anderson      37 (38)
J FAULKNER  b Milne                              36 (33)
J HASTINGS  c Guptill b Santner                8 (9)
K RICHARDSON c Williamson b Santner      19 (13)
J HAZLWEOOD   not out                                0 (0)
Sundries           (2lb, 9w)                              11
Total                                              148
Fall: 10, 33, 39, 40, 40, 41, 120, 121, 148, 148
Bowling: T Boult 7-0-38-3, M Henry 6-0-41-3 (3w), A Milne 6-0-46-1 (3w), C Anderson 4-1-14-1 (3w), G Elliott 1-0-7-0, M Santner 0.2-0-0-2
Batting time: 115 minsOvers: 24.2
Umpires: Ian Gould, Derek Walker
New Zealand won by 159 runs