Black Caps coach Gary Stead has praised his side for the way they adapt on the field.
The New Zealanders put behind them two heavy defeats to Australia to clinch the T20 series with a seven wicket victory in the fifth and final game in Wellington.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
More than seven thousand fans were on hand to watch the game after the Covid-19 alert levels were dropped.
"We pride ourselves on adapting and adapting fast and when we lost the toss it may have been easy to think we were behind the eight ball again, but I thought we bowled and fielded exceptionally well," said Stead.
"I thought some of the decision making by Kane Williamson on when he bowled the part time spinners (Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman were both bowling internationally for the first time) was superb."
Martin Guptill hit seven fours and four sixes to amass 71 runs off 46 balls as the New Zealanders chased down their target of 144.
New Zealand made a strong start to their innings, with openers Devon Conway (who replaced Tim Seifert at the top of the order) and Guptill putting on 106 runs before Conway fell to Riley Meredith, with Ashton Agar taking the catch.
Kane Williamson was out without scoring soon after but Guptill continued to push the Black Caps towards Australia's total until he was caught by Mitchell Marsh off Jhye Richardson's bowling.
Martin Guptill Photo: Photosport
With fans allowed into the stadium following the lifting of New Zealand's coronavirus restrictions, Guptill left to a standing ovation before Glenn Phillips hit a towering six to complete the win.
Australia, who named an unchanged line-up following their win in the fourth meeting of the series on Friday, lost eight wickets for 142 in their innings.
Matthew Wade top scored with 44 off just 29 balls while captain Aaron Finch followed up his impressive performances in the previous two matches with 36 runs from 32 balls.
The Australian batsmen struggled to find their tempo on a tricky surface with New Zealand's bowlers keeping the visitors in check throughout the final 10 overs to set up a successful run chase.
Ish Sodhi led the way with 3-24, with support form Trent Boult (2-26) and Tim Southee (2-38) as the visitors lost four wickets in the final three overs for 20 runs.
Sodhi completed the series with 13 wickets for 157 runs.
The series victory means New Zealand has won al three T20 series this summer (including the West Indies and Pakistan) and meet Bangladesh next in three ODI's and three T20's.
- Reuters/RNZ
