Cricket: Taylor urges aggression against Sri Lanka

Positivity against Sri Lanka's spinners will be vital if New Zealand are to cause a boilover in the first cricket Test starting in Galle tonight, according to captain Ross Taylor.

The Black Caps are chasing their first Test win on Sri Lankan soil for nearly 15 years and are heavy underdogs for the two-Test series following a 3-0 defeat in the rain-hit ODI series.

India's spin bowlers shared 31 wickets between them during the recent 2-0 home Test defeat of New Zealand.

However, Taylor noted R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha were less effective in the second Test at Bangalore, where his side posted a confident 365 in the first innings.

"I think the way we played the last Test in India, the way we attacked spin, is going to be crucial in this next match," Taylor said.

"A lot of teams think that's a weakness of ours and if we show that's a strength of ours and play positive and aggressive cricket to their spinners that bodes well for our batsmen.

"Hopefully we can string a few more partnerships together and instead of scoring 300-350, push that out to 400 and put pressure on the opposition."

New Zealand's batsmen were undone by Sri Lanka spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan when they last toured three years ago. New Zealand lost the first Test in Galle by 202 runs.

However, Taylor said a bowling attack without Muralitharan was clearly a more playable prospect.

Unless New Zealand choose to select two spinners, the uncapped Todd Astle is likely to miss out on a starting 11 place to Jeetan Patel, who impressed against India in the absence of the injured Daniel Vettori.

There are five seam options to fill three spots, with Chris Martin, Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner having joined Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who contested the ODI series.

Martin Guptill also returns to the team and will open alongside Brendon McCullum while Daniel Flynn and James Franklin are expected to fill the No.5 and No.6 slots in the batting order after Kane Williamson and Taylor.

New Zealand received some good news on Friday when prolific Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to pass a fitness test on his back and was ruled out. That will hand a Test debut to left-handed Dimuth Karunaratne.