Australia fell to a heavy loss against the Black Caps in the opening game of a five-game T20 series on Monday night in Christchurch, crumbling to a 53-run defeat.

On a night where not much went right for the tourists, the opening power play at least did.

Led by Richardson and Daniel Sams, Australia had the Kiwis 3-19 and looked set to restrict the home side to a below-par score.

Devon Conway's unbeaten 99 ended those hopes, but Richardson said the early success against the top order gave them hope.

"We were all satisfied with the planning and decisions made out there, it just comes down to an execution thing," he said.

"Batsmen are allowed to bat well ... I certainly missed my length (late on).

"We'll be keeping things relatively simple.

"Against most batsmen, plans only change slightly. We still think good balls are hard to hit regardless."

With 2-31, Richardson was the pick of the Aussie bowlers.

The 24-year-old knocked over Tim Seifert with his second ball and snared Jimmy Neesham just as the allrounder was starting to impose.

Like his skipper and Mitch Marsh, he refused to blame quarantine for their lacklustre start to the series.

"I felt completely confident in myself and what preparation we have and had full faith in everyone else that they're feeling the same," Richardson added.

If nothing else, the Western Australian could at least enjoy putting on an Australian shirt once more after a shoulder injury kept him out of the national team for the past year.

"It was a really nice feeling," he said.

"I probably wasn't as nervous (as I thought I would be).

"What I've done to get to this point, I can trust that.

"I went out there yesterday with the sole focus of trying to enjoying myself and I did."

Game two of the series is in Dunedin on Thursday afternoon.

Australian Associated Press