Boult was named Man of the Match for his career-best figures of 6-33
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Trent Boult claimed a career-best six wickets, while Ross Taylor made a record-equalling hundred as New Zealand beat Australia by 24 runs in Hamilton to regain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Choosing to bat first, New Zealand got off to a dismal start as opening batsman Tom Latham was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for a duck.
Dean Brownlie, who, prior to this, had not played international cricket since December 2014, and captain Kane Williamson made up for the early loss of Latham with a 70-run partnership before Williamson was caught behind off the bowling of Pat Cummins for 37.
Brownlie and Taylor kept the runs flowing with a 100-run stand, during which Brownlie brought up his half-century, before he was caught behind off the bowling of James Faulkner for a 78-ball 63, which included seven boundaries.
Brownlie made his first ODI fifty
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New Zealand began to collapse after Brownlie’s dismissal as they went from 176/3 to being reduced to 209/6.
Taylor did his best to hold the innings together and even went on to bring up his hundred, but his resistance was ended shortly after as he was removed by Faulkner for 107 off 101 balls, which included 13 boundaries.
Taylor celebrates after scoring his 16th ODI century
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Taylor’s knock of 107 was his 16th century in ODI cricket and it brought him level with Nathan Astle for the most hundreds scored by a New Zealand player in the format.
Even though Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson fell shortly after, Mitchell Santner’s unbeaten 38 guided New Zealand to 281/9 off their 50 overs.
Starc and Faulkner took three wickets apiece, while Josh Hazlewood snapped up two and Cummins chipped in with one.
Chasing 282 to win, Australia made a solid start before opener Shaun Marsh was run out by Santner for 22.
Just two balls later, stand-in wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb was on his way back to the pavilion as he was clean bowled by Boult for a duck.
Stand-in captain Aaron Finch and Travis Head steadied the innings with a 75-run partnership, during which Finch surpassed his half-century.
However, he was unable to convert it into a bigger score as he was dismissed by Williamson for 56, which came off 64 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.
Finch scored his 15th ODI fifty
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Glenn Maxwell failed to trouble the scorers as he was caught behind off the bowling of Santner.
Head and Marcus Stoinis helped Australia recover via a 53-run stand before the tourists were dealt a double blow as Head was sent packing by Boult for 53, which came off 72 deliveries and included five boundaries. Boult struck again just four balls later as he removed Faulkner for a duck.
Head made his fifth half-century in ODI cricket
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Stoinis ended up making 42 before he became Santner’s second victim.
Even though Starc and Cummins put together a last-gasp 51-run partnership, it was not enough to get Australia over the finish line as Boult took the last three wickets in quick time to ensure New Zealand won the match and series.
Boult was easily the pick of the bowlers with six wickets, while Santner got two and Williamson claimed one.
Finch was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “Fifties don’t win you games. We saw Ross Taylor get a hundred. That is what we needed to do. Trent Boult bowled beautifully, credit to the groundsman. The surface was fantastic. The way we’ve dragged games back is something we’ll take back.”
Williamson was thrilled to have won the series, and said: “Both games were fairly similar. The wickets were similar, on these grounds you’re never out of the game. Australia showed why they’re a top side, at times we felt we had them, but they kept coming hard. Credit to our guys for sucking up the pressure. Ross Taylor’s was a brilliant hundred. The way he rotated the strike was superb. He hardly faced any dot balls, was able to build partnerships with the top order and the lower order.”
Boult was named Man of the Match, and said: “It felt pretty good, one hell of a game. We were a few runs short, but we still finished nicely with Mitch. The conditions are familiar, I’ve played some cricket here. Couple of deliveries jumped and gripped, it was a two-paced wicket. This win is satisfying. We had a couple of tough lessons on tour in Australia a couple of months ago.”