Match report

Australia's batsmen were found wanting in Auckland thanks to a failure to prepare themselves to defend the new and swinging ball, their captain admitted on Saturday night.

A loss  to New Zealand by one wicket was a lot closer than it should have been been, thanks to wonderful bowling by Mitchell Starc, and Michael Clarke pinpointed the way Australia had practised as he tried to explained a record collapse.

Facing the swinging ball has been an issue for this Australian team in the past, and led by left-armer Trent Boult, the Black Caps were able to play on that vulnerability with devastating effect at Eden Park.

"I think sometimes in T20 cricket and one-day cricket you can get caught up working on the power side of your game," Clarke said. "I don't think we have had too many training sessions where we have worked on the start of our game and actually defending the brand new ball or the swinging ball and that's an area we can focus on because I think you face conditions like that all around the world, not just here in New Zealand.

" I think you will see the ball swing at the WACA in our next game [against Afghanistan on Wednesday] and we have experienced it plenty of times in Brisbane, even the MCG and the SCG these days.

"The ball is going to swing and we have some work to do with the bat, that's for sure."

Australia's innings unravelled spectacularly after Aaron Finch and David Warner had begun frenetically, compiling 36 runs from the first three overs.

"They came out very aggressively and they have some very aggressive stroke makers," said New Zealand's Kane Williamson, who clinched a nail-biting victory for the hosts with a six.

"We've seen some of the totals they've put on the board before and on a small ground like this and on a good track obviously they were looking to do it again. But the boys bowled really well and made it tough for them, so that was an outstanding job by our seamers and Dan [Vettori] as well."

Clarke said Australia's batting had to improve quickly ahead of the knockout stage. "I don't think there's ever a good time to bat the way we batted. The advantage we have is we're not knocked out of the tournament," he said.

"So we've got room and time to improve our game. But against the best oppositions you have to play better than that, there's no doubt about it. We acknowledge that.

"This is certainly not the end of the world for us.

"We need to respect the way New Zealand bowled and understand they bowled really well, look at our own games individually and get the work done to make sure we're well prepared for the next challenge in Perth.

"But I still think we've got a really strong squad and I'm still confident we can come out and play our best cricket and turn this around quickly."