Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to
bat first in the first cricket test against New Zealand at
the Basin Reserve in Wellington today.
New Zealand made one change from their 121-run win over
Bangladesh last month, with 31-year-old Northern Districts
paceman Brent Arnel handed a test debut at the expense of
spinner Jeetan Patel.
Australia suffered a late blow when in-form allrounder Shane
Watson was ruled out after failing to recover from a hip
injury suffered during game four of the one-day series. He
was replaced by young opener Phil Hughes.
Queensland paceman Ryan Harris was given a test debut after
passing a fitness test on a side strain.
The weather was fine and mild with a start due on time at
11am (NZT).
Teams:- New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh,
BJ Watling, Peter Ingram, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill,
Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Brent Arnel,
Chris Martin.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Simon Katich, Phil
Hughes, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad
Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Doug
Bollinger.
Umpires: Ian Gould (England), Asad Rauf (Pakistan).
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