They slipped to 118 ranking points, equal with South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka in Johannesburg on Saturday to go 3-0 up.

South Africa will overtake Australia if they win the remaining two matches in that series. When Kane Williamson won the toss he had no hesitation in batting first on the Hamilton wicket, correctly forecasting it would slow up as the day wore on and Boult would come into his own.

But in the prime early batting conditions, New Zealand appeared to have under-performed with their 281 for nine, despite Taylor’s 107 off 101 balls and his century partnership with Dean Brownlie who made 63.

With rankings and the series at stake after New Zealand won the first ODI by six wickets and the second was washed out, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh made a flying start to Australia’s reply, averaging more than six an over.

They were particularly harsh on Tim Southee, whose opening four-over spell cost 30 runs, while new-ball partner and man-of-the-match Boult then had one for 10.