Skipper Steve Smith refused to blame a jam-packed schedule for Australia's terrible collapse in Auckland but conceded his side was stuck in Twenty20 mode.
Smith's men could hardly have started their tour of New Zealand in worse fashion on Wednesday, when they were belted by 159 runs in an ODI at Eden Park.
Having been set a victory target of 308, Australia were 6-41 after nine overs and the game was was as good as over.
They were rolled for 148 shortly after the floodlights were turned on, lasting just 24.2 overs in total.
Australia have never been skittled so quickly in an ODI, suggesting they went too hard too early despite Smith demanding they do the opposite pre-match.
"The way we batted, it looked like we were in a bit of a hurry, almost in T20 mode if you will," the skipper said.
"We let them get on top of us, we probably went a little bit too hard at them and we didn't have it in us tonight.
"We're going to have to improve on that and make sure we give ourselves a chance in the next couple of games.
Smith was part of an advanced party that landed in Auckland on Saturday.
But some players in the squad were involved in last Sunday's T20 loss to India, while many had featured in the preceding Big Bash League.
"I don't think it (the schedule) is to blame. I think it's part and parcel of the game these days," the skipper said.
"You go from different formats of the game very quickly and it's just about adapting quickly to whichever one you have to play.
Smith noted "the most disappointing" part of the result was that his teammates failed to heed his advice about starting their innings cautiously.
"Playing over here against those guys (Trent Boult and Matt Henry) we need to take a little bit longer to get ourselves in," Smith said.
"Give ourselves a chance.
"We didn't do that tonight and we're going to have to learn quickly and hopefully we can do that in a couple of days time in Wellington."
The three-match ODI series continues on Saturday, with Usman Khawaja expected to be recalled by Australia.
Marcus Stoinis will link up with the squad soon after hamstrung allrounder James Faulkner was ruled out of the rest of the series.
