Australia crushed New Zealand by seven wickets with nearly 16 overs to spare in their fourth one-day international in Wellington on Tuesday.

The world champions hardly broke into a sweat as they cruised to victory in the 35th over after dismissing the Kiwis for 233 to snatch a 4-0 lead in their five-match series.

Damien Martyn top scored for Australia with 65 not out while stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist (54), Andrew Symonds (48) and Simon Katich (43) also got among the runs as the tourists cantered to their 236-3 total.

"It was a great team effort," said Gilchrist, who was promoted to skipper after Ricky Ponting was ruled out with a leg injury.

"Even though we had already won the series, we were determined to come out and play aggressively."

New Zealand, currently second in the world rankings behind Australia, had threatened to post a big total when captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle laid the platform for a good innings by piling on 84 for the first wicket in 17 overs.

However, when both men departed for 37 runs each, the home side's batting fell away.

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Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie took two wickets each for Australia while Michael Kasprowicz, Michael Clarke and debutant James Hopes collected one apiece.

"We just didn't put enough pressure on them ... and once again they demolished us," Fleming said.

"We're getting a drubbing and we've got to learn from this."

Katich, opening the innings in the absence of Matthew Hayden, got the Australian reply off to a fast start with a brisk 43 off 41 balls before Gilchrist swung into action, striking eight fours and a six to reach his first half-century of the series.

Both were caught after chancing their arms but their departures did not stem the flow of runs.

Symonds belted three sixes in his 48 off just 37 deliveries while Martyn plundered eight boundaries in his unbeaten 65.

Scorecard:

New Zealand innings
S.Fleming c Lee b Gillespie 37
N.Astle c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 37
C.Cumming c Clarke b McGrath 10
H.Marshall c and b Clarke 23
C.McMillan lbw b Hopes 35
J.Marshall c Gilchrist b Gillespie 9
C.Cairns c Martyn b Lee 36
B.McCullum c Katich b Lee 17
J.Wilson lbw b McGrath 1
K.Mills run out 4
L.Hamilton not out 2
Extras (b-1 lb-12 w-5 nb-4) 22
Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 233

Fall of wickets: 1-84 2-90 3-104 4-145 5-163 6-173 7-214 8-220 9-226 10-233

Bowling: Lee 9-1-41-2 (nb-3 w-3), McGrath 9.5-1-48-2 (nb-1 w-1), Gillespie 10-0-46-2 (w-1), Kasprowicz 8-2-34-1, Hopes 10-1-38-1, Clarke 3-0-13-1

Australia innings
A.Gilchrist c McMillan b Wilson 54
S.Katich c McCullum b Cairns 43
D.Martyn not out 65
A.Symonds c Wilson b McMillan 48
M.Clarke not out 10
Extras (lb-3 w-8 nb-5) 16
Total (for three wickets, 34.2 overs) 236

Fall of wickets: 1-78 2-113 3-212

Bowling: Mills 7-1-37-0 (w-6), Hamilton 8-0-67-0 (nb-4 w-1), Wilson 9-0-68-1, Cairns 6-0-30-1 (nb-1), McMillan 4.2-0-31-1 (w-1)

Did not bat: M.Hussey, J.Hopes, B.Lee, J.Gillespie, M. Kasprowicz, G.McGrath.

Result: Australia won by seven wickets to lead series 4-0

Man of the match: Adam Gilchrist (Australia)

Fifth match: March 5, Napier