Updated March 14, 2020 10:29:20

Adam Zampa has bowled the ball of the summer, but no-one was there to see it, with Australia beating New Zealand by 71 runs behind closed doors at the SCG.

On a day when coronavirus consumed the sporting landscape, Australia recorded their first ODI win in six matches.

With the pandemic leaving fans locked out just hours before the first ball was bowled, Aaron Finch (60) and David Warner (67) led Australia to 7-258 before Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh and Zampa bowled them to victory.

Cummins finished with an impeccable 3-25 from his eight overs as he troubled the Black Caps with his pace and bounce, strangling them out of the trans-Tasman series opener.

Photo: Josh Hazlewood took 2-37 in his 10 overs. (AAP: Dean Lewins)

Mitch Marsh took 3-29 for his best return in four and a half years, while Josh Hazlewood bagged 2-37 as New Zealand finished all out for 187.

But it will be Zampa's wrong'un to dismiss Kane Williamson that will live longest in the highlights reels, even if there was nobody there to witness it in person.

The wrist spinner brought one back between the New Zealand captain's bat and pad to bowl him for 19 and in the process put a big dent in the Black Caps' run chase.

Zampa later had Colin de Grandhomme caught on the long-on boundary for 25, exposing New Zealand's tail and ending any hope for the visitors.

His 2-50 continues a brilliant summer for the 27-year-old, who worked over Virat Kohli in India in January and is now easily Australia's first-choice spin bowler in white-ball cricket.

Earlier, Warner and Finch batted Australia into a position of dominance with a 124-run opening stand before the middle order again wobbled.

Warner powered nine boundaries in his 67 from 88 balls, and with no crowd present to applaud the feat took a while to realise he had brought up his 50 when he pulled Ish Sodhi to square leg.

Finch, who would have been out twice had decisions not gone in his favour, was particularly aggressive, whacking two sixes in his 60 from 75 balls.

Photo: David Warner scored 67 off 88 balls. (AAP: Dean Lewins)

One of those hoisted shots, off legspinner Sodhi, went deep into the vacant Bill O'Reilly Stand, leaving Lockie Ferguson to climb the fence to retrieve the ball.

Marnus Labuschagne (56) also continued his golden summer, registering his eighth score over 50 in nine international innings on home soil.

He was again busy, with just 10 dot balls in his 52-ball knock as he regularly found ways to tick the strike over and find gaps in the field.

But there were still concerns for Australia at the finish as they only twice cleared the boundary and added just 64 in the final 10 overs.

With Cricket Australia acting early and barring fans from the ODI series against New Zealand due to the coronavirus pandemic, Friday's match at the SCG looms as the new norm.

Both captains still exchanged hand shakes at the toss, but interviews were done via the spidercam to ensure a 2-metre buffer zone.

Australia were without quarantined quick Kane Richardson who was suffering a "mild sore throat", but even though officials were confident it was a minor infection, his health status still clouded the match.

Business as usual, but nothing was normal

On the field, players at least tried to carry on as if it was business as usual after being told of the new measures late on Thursday night.

With reserves sitting in the Members Pavilion watching on, the Black Caps still shined the ball with sweat, as usual.

But the reality was that all was not normal.

When Aaron Finch struck the game's first six, there was no roaring cheer. Just silence and some words of encouragement to bowler Jimmy Neesham.

And when New Zealand had their first appeal — a top-edge from David Warner that should have been upheld — no review clock appeared on a big screen devoid of replays.

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Crowds will be banned from the next two games in the series in Sydney and Hobart, and doubt also remains over a tour of New Zealand later this month given the Government's non-essential travel warning.

Australia's women's tour of South Africa for next week has also been suspended, making it the first major cricket series affected.

"We have taken strong action today in the face of an unprecedented public health issue," CA boss Keith Roberts said.

"We believe this is the right decision to minimise the risk of public exposure to the coronavirus.

"We understand that these changes to our schedule will impact many, but we hope our community will understand that the public health and safety issues … must take priority."

Roberts said cancelling the ODIs would have been "excessive", but there had been "apprehension" among players at the prospect of playing in front of large crowds.

That came especially after a spectator at last week's Women's T20 World Cup final was diagnosed with coronavirus.

He defended the call to play that final in front of 86,174 fans, but said it was a "learning experience".

AAP

Topics: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, onedayseries, sport, cricket, australia, nsw, sydney-2000

First posted March 13, 2020 16:44:04