Jess Jonassen has halted a New Zealand fightback to help Australia take the opening game of the ODI series.
The world no.1's claimed a five-run victory at the WACA despite a shaky opening with the bat.
Coming into the match, Australia had held the Rose Bowl trophy for the last 17 years so it came as a surprise when the top order was bowled out early on.
Australia had lost Alyssa Healy (4), Meg Lanning (6) and Ellyse Perry (6) by the 15th over but it was a half-century from vice-captain Rachael Haynes which gave her side a fighting chance.
For Perry, who is the world's second-ranked one-day batter, she extended her ODI streak without a half-century - her longest since mid-2013.
Throughout the inning, the home side struggled to form a partnership at the crease, something that will need to change ahead of the match in Adelaide, while the rest of the batting line-up were unable to make it past 36 runs.
Australia was bowled out after 49.4 overs for their lowest ODI total against their Trans-Tasman rivals since 2011 and it meant New Zealand only needed to post 242 to win.
The Kiwi's were in the box seat at 4-188 with captain Amy Satterthwaite leading the charge and she looked to be well on her way to a century.
That was until Jonassen took 4-43 in her return to the 50 over format after missing the ODIs against Pakistan late last year due to injury.
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