New Zealand have drawn first blood in the Constellation Cup in Wellington, crushing the Diamonds 64-50 to deliver Australia's biggest loss to their trans-Tasman rivals since 2010.
The Silver Ferns streaked away in the second quarter to set up the win, with the hosts posting their largest tally in regular time over the Diamonds.
New Zealand's forward combination were almost untouchable, with Grace Nweke shooting 50 goals from 53 attempts and skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio adding 14 from 15.
The world No.1 Diamonds arrived in New Zealand determined to amend a disappointing record across the Tasman, with coach Stacey Marinkovich only tasting victory once, back in 2021.
However, that record is now at seven straight in New Zealand after Sunday's disappointing showing.
Marinkovich said she wasn't surprised by the performance of the Ferns, who were looking to bounce back after losing their recent series against England.
"It's probably what you think their absolute potential is," the coach said.
"The way in which they defended, they were really aggressive with what they did in terms of their control of the court space and in attack they went direct and they held possession - and they did it for 60 minutes.
"It's something we weren't surprised about, but we weren't on song tonight."
Australia only trailed 17-16 at the end of the first quarter, but things fell apart in the second as the home side steamed ahead 34-25 by half-time.
Kiera Austin was player of the series against England, but the Aussie goal attack couldn't produce the same goods and was replaced at half-time after only shooting at 64 per cent.
But Austin wasn't alone, with the Kiwis holding the edge all over the court.
Cara Koenen, who replaced Sophie Garbin at goal shooter, was the best in the Australian circle, on target for 20 of 22 attempts.
Marinkovich continued to ring the changes as she searched for a way to stem the errors, but the rattled Diamonds still struggled to find their rhythm.
They clawed their way back to a seven-goal deficit at three-quarter-time, but the Kiwis resisted the challenge in style to book their biggest win since a 19-goal margin in 2010, also in Wellington.
The next Test is in Auckland on Wednesday, followed by two games in Australia, with Perth and Melbourne playing hosts.
Marinkovich had confidence the Diamonds could rebound in the second Test before heading back to home soil.
"Absolutely. A loss doesn't sit well and there's lots to learn from this experience and you've only got a couple of days to turn it around, so you've got to be able to put your head down and take what was good from the game and fine-tune the rest," she said.
"But we're going to have to come out hard in the next one."
