Cameron Green says he had serious doubt whether he'd be able to finish Australia's opening ODI win over New Zealand in Cairns after suffering cramps and pain across his body during his unbeaten winning innings.
Green and Alex Carey steered Australia to an unlikely victory over the Black Caps in their opening ODI on Tuesday, chasing down 233 with five overs to spare after languishing at 5-44 at one stage.
Green survived a late collapse by the tail-end, hobbling between the wickets as Adam Zampa helped him take Australia to a two-wicket win.
"I couldn't really walk for a sec there, credit to Zorb (Zampa) he was a finisher in the end. It was nice to be down the other end watching him go about it," he told Fox Sports.
Green said it was his groin, calf, hamstring and forearm that gave him issues but was confident he'd play in Thursday's second ODI.
In their first of a three-game series, New Zealand managed 9-232, a solid total to defend under the lights.
Australia's reply began abysmally when skipper Aaron Finch fell once again to a left-arm seamer, scoring just five for a second consecutive innings.
Trent Boult ripped through the top order as he snared three wickets, bowled 21 dot balls and conceded just 12 runs from his five-over spell.
When Matt Henry had David Warner caught on the boundary before Marcus Stoinis was clean bowled, Australia were in dire straits.
But Carey and Green played exquisitely, their 158-run partnership anchoring Australia's chase which looked set to carry to the final runs.
Then Carey departed for 85 (99), with Glenn Maxwell quickly following and Mitchell Starc soon after.
Green battled leg and calf cramps and needed work from the trainer as Australia sat at 8-207.
Then at 8-225, it began to pour. Adam Zampa smacked a boundary before the heavens opened, forcing the players from the field with Australia ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rain calculation.
They were off for just seven minutes and returned needing four runs to win.
They needed just two legal balls, Zampa taking three runs off the rest of Mitchell Santner's over before Lockie Ferguson inadvertently finished it with a wide.
Carey said he and Green knew there was time to win back the contest.
"We knew we were in a bit of trouble, but we also knew there was lots of time left in the game," Carey told reporters.
"My job was to bounce off Greeny, and Greeny myself.
"We know how good he is. But taking this format to another step, he'll recover up nicely and go again on Thursday."
Earlier, Maxwell claimed four wickets amid his second best ODI figures 4-52 from 10 overs, leaving Australia in the driver's seat as the Black Caps' tail folded.
Josh Hazlewood took the final three wickets and finished the most economical of the bowlers, with 3-31 from his 10 overs.
Despite losing their last six wickets for just 44 runs, New Zealand's total was almost enough, but Green and Carey's partnership was the difference.
