Australia clinched a T20 series victory over New Zealand after leg spinner Adam Zampa produced a four-wicket blast in Auckland.

Zampa took four for 34 to help his side to a 72-run win despite the tourists setting their hosts what looked a below-par target of 175.

If the spinner did the bulk of the damage, it was the quicks who set the stage for him with Josh Hazlewood bowling 15 dot balls in his first three overs and finishing with figures of one for 12.

It proved a difficult day for the Black Caps, for whom wicketkeeper Devon Conway was unable to bat after damaging his left thumb, and Glenn Phillips' contribution of 42 was the only one of note in a paltry total of 102.

Australia had been asked to bat in the second of three matches and although opener Travis Head made 45 from just 22 balls, it took a late 28 from Pat Cummins to edge them towards respectability as Lockie Ferguson plundered four for 12 from 3.5 overs.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh admits his side were up against it after the first innings.

"That's a great win for Australia. Our backs were against the wall – we thought we were 50 runs short," he told TVNZ.

"The way our bowlers came out and performed was outstanding. Everyone performed – it was awesome.

"You can get lured into the short boundaries here and one of our mantras is to keep going with the bat and it didn't quite happen."

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner thought the Kiwis were in the game at the halfway stage.

"We were pretty happy at halfway especially after the start they got off to – we know how dangerous their top order are," Santner said

"Credit to the boys. We tried to mix it up a bit and slowed them down in the middle with some wickets.

"We talk about wickets in the powerplay and they managed to get those. Maybe we could have soaked it up a little bit more but they bowled well."