Callum Taylor took four wickets and Mosun Hussain struck a half-century as England Under-19s edged out their Australian counterparts by two wickets in the first of five youth one-day internationals at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School.
Taylor’s 4-49 helped dismiss the hosts for 219 in the penultimate over, Jake Doran top-scoring with 82 from 100 balls.
When Hussain was the sixth man out for England for 76, 35 runs were still required from 31 deliveries.
But, despite losing two more batsmen, Ben Green’s rapid unbeaten 20 got his side over the line with three balls remaining.
Australia struggled after winning the toss, slipping to 48 for three in the 10th over following Will Davis’ double strike.
Doran rode to his side’s rescue, though, sharing stands of 49 and 67 with Sam Heazlett and Patrick Page respectively.
However, Taylor struck three times in quick succession to limit Australia, a run out ending the innings eight balls early.
Hussain arrived at the crease in the 10th over of England's reply after they slipped to 30 for two.
The right-hander, with six fours, and Aneurin Donald got the tourists back on track with an important third-wicket stand of 72 until the latter became Matthew Short’s only victim.
Taylor and Ryan Davies added 18 and 14 respectively, but their dismissals followed by the exit of Hussain set up a nervy finish.
Brad Taylor and Mason Crane also departed, leaving Green and Davis with the responsibility of leading England home.
Head of the England Development Programme Andy Hurry said: “The first ODI went right down to the wire and provided the type of pressurised finish that we believe is crucial to the development of our highest potential players.
“Despite maybe not being quite at our best, I’m delighted that we came out on top and we showed real character and fight which reflects the unity in the squad and is the product of the relevant shared experiences that the group have had over the past few years.
“After three early breakthroughs, we continued to build pressure during the innings and took wickets at key stages; in particular the dismissal of Doran for 82 in the 42nd over.
“Chasing a challenging score of 220 to win, we were aware that keeping wickets in hand would be crucial.
“Hussain was the bedrock of the innings and it was the cool head of Green that brought the game home for us with his 20 off 12 balls.
“There were some fine individual performances but we are very aware of the key areas that we need to develop to perform closer to our best.”
Callum Taylor, who required three stitches on the bridge of his nose after colliding with a fielder while batting, told ecb.co.uk:“It was a brilliant win.
“We did really well in the first innings to restrict them to 219. It is hard batting second because the team have got the runs on the board and it is then down to us. It was a brilliant knock from Mosun and it ended well with Ben getting a great 20 under a lot of pressure.
“It is the first game, we are now looking forward to the second game and preparing for that. There is a long way to go.”
On his own performance, Taylor added: “I was happy, very happy. I was more pleased with restricting them to 219, that is all you look to do. Personal targets go out the window, it is all about the team.”