I was wrong about the “breathing space” that Australia had before their tour of South Africa. With their terrible effort with the bat and inability to win a close thriller against the Kiwis in the first ODI, Australia have put themselves under a lot of pressure. As JC mentions here, New Zealand have always been a good one-day team and have given Australia a run for their money several times, most notably the 3-0 whitewash before the last World Cup.
The best case scenario for Australia is that they win the remaining matches, but now they are under pressure. If NZ walks away with a series win, that would mean embarrassment and incriminations. Some of the weaker (experienced) players may lose their place, thus creating more holes in the Australian side. It would also require more strategic and tactical re-thinking for the potentially gruelling SA tour.
What Australia needs now is time to cool down. It would even have been appropriate for Ricky Ponting to skip this series entirely and reduce the headaches associated with the responsibility of leading the team. It is only going to get harder from here.
As for New Zealand, this was a tremendous victory. Bowling out Australia for 181 and keeping their heads about them to edge ahead on the last ball with the captain Vettori hitting the winning run should have given them a lot of confidence. Yes, one can say that their chase should have been better planned, but there is no arguing with victory.
