Victoria made light of New South Wales' recent Twenty20 dominance - and an imposing target - to notch a thrilling six-wicket win in Saturday night's KFC Big Bash at the MCG.
Chasing 179 for victory, the Bushrangers got up with two balls to spare thanks to a towering six from exciting West Indian import Dwayne Bravo that was greeted with a huge roar from the estimated crowd of 30,000.
Openers Matthew Wade - who made 41 from 24 deliveries - and Brad Hodge (40 from 36), along with David Hussey (38 from 16) did their best to keep the Vics viable, but they were always up against it.
The home side needed 50 from the last four overs and Hussey gave them hope when he plundered 19 from the 17th over of the innings bowled by Aaron Bird.
When Hussey was brilliantly caught on the boundary one-handed by Steve Smith, the contest swung back New South Wales' way, but man-of-the-match Bravo (18 from eight) and Andrew McDonald (21 from 16) got the Vics over the line.
Earlier, the Blues, who edged the Vics in last year's Big Bash final and thumped them in a semi-final of the Twenty20 Champions League in October, knocked up an imposing 6-178.
Opener David Warner set the tone with a thumping 40 from 20 deliveries while Steve Smith (35 not out) and Dwayne Smith, who racked-up a quickfire 25 from 15 balls, made late inroads.
Bravo claimed 3-28 from four overs and Hussey 2-16 from three.
Warner's contribution was not quite in the same league as his record-breaking 50 from 18 deliveries against Tasmania on Wednesday but critical in the context of a tight tussle.
Phillip Hughes' late call-up to join the Test squad in Sydney as a stand-by for Simon Katich was an unwelcome late setback for the Blues.
But the absence of his regular opening partner appeared to make little difference to Warner who picked up against the Vics where he left off at Bellerive.
Every one of the five boundaries and two sixes Warner smashed in his five-over cameo was taken as a personal challenge by Victorian paceman Dirk Nannes and James Pattinson to bowl faster.
And the faster they bowled, the quicker Warner despatched them to the fence.
Significantly it was a slower ball in Bravo's opening over that brought about Warner's demise from a top-edge taken comfortably by Matthew Wade.
Bravo made it two-for in his next over when Usman Khawaja holed out to Glenn Maxwell at mid-on and Dominic Thornely followed almost immediately for one, caught on the long-on boundary by Andrew McDonald off Michael Hussey.
The Blues made it to the half-way mark at 3-92 but lost Jacques in the 11th over, trapped in front by Hussey while attempting a reverse sweep.
The next five overs produced 35 runs without loss, but Bravo struck again with the opening ball of the 16th over to remove Henriques (21 from 18).
The three Smiths, Dwayne, Steve and Daniel combined to add 60 between them over the last five overs to set a daunting target.
New South Wales innings
Jacques lbw Hussey 33 (36)
Warner c Wade b Bravo 40 (20)
Khawaja c Maxwell b Bravo 13 (10)
Thornely c McDonald b Hussey 1 (4)
Henriques c Maxwell b Bravo 21 (18)
S. Smith not out 35 (26 )
Dwayne Smith c White b Hastings 25 (15)
Daniel Smith not out 4 (1)
Extras: 6 (1lb, 5w)
Total: 178 (6 wickets, 20 overs)
FOW: 1-60, 2-81, 3-83, 4-95, 5-128, 6-173
Bowling
Nannes 4 - 0 - 46 - 0 (1w)
Pattinson 2 - 0 - 24 - 0
Bravo 4 - 0 - 32- 3 (3w)
Hussey 3 - 0 - 16 - 2
Hastings 4 - 0 - 30 - 1
McDonald 3 - 0 - 29 - 0 (1w)
Victoria innings
Hodge c Daniel Smith b Starc 40 (36)
Wade c Henriques b Bird 41 (24)
White c Dwayne Smith b S. Smith 14 (18)
Hussey c S. Smith b Dwayne Smith 38 (16)
McDonald not out 21 (16)
Bravo not out 18 (8)
Extras: (1b, 2lb, 4w)
Total: 179 (4 wickets, 19.4 overs)
FOW: 1-69, 2-97, 3-105, 4-153
Bowling
Hazlewood 3 - 0 - 23 - 0
Starc 4 - 0 - 40 - 1 (3w)
Bird 3 - 0 - 53 - 1 (1w)
Dwayne Smith 3.4 - 0 - 24 - 1
Henriques 2 - 0 - 11 - 0
S. Smith 3 - 0 - 25 - 1