Australia will bowl first on a greenish Basin Reserve pitch in the opening cricket Test against New Zealand.
Australian captain Steve Smith correctly called tails at the toss on Friday morning and opted to make first use of a pitch expected to offer movement for the seam bowlers and improve for batting throughout the match.
His opposite Brendon McCullum, playing his 100th consecutive Test since debut, said he would also have bowled first if he had won the toss.
He said batting first, anything over 300 would be competitive and while disappointed not to be bowling first, noted they had won batting first at the Basin before.
Wellington's Basin is expected to be a full house in bright and warm conditions with a light westerly expected for most of the day.
New Zealand have opted for three seamers and offspinner Mark Craig, while Australia opted for a similar mix in dropping fast bowler James Pattinson, who was under an injury cloud, for Jackson Bird.
Black Caps: Guptill, Latham, Williamson, Nicholls, McCullum (c), Anderson, Watling, Craig, Bracewell, Southee, Boult.
Australia: Burns, Warner, Khawaja, Smith (capt), Voges, Marsh, Nevill, Siddle, Hazlewood, Lyon, Bird.
Newshub.
