Southee leads Black Caps as England bowl first in second ODI

Tim Southee will lead the Black Caps against England at Bay Oval. PHOTO/PHOTOSPORT.NZ

Kane Williamson's hamstring injury has opened the door for Tim Southee to assume the captaincy against England.

The Black Caps will bat first as they look to back up a tense three-wicket victory at Seddon Park, thanks to the batting heroics from Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner.

Southee, who was the pick of the bowlers despite going wicketless in Hamilton, takes the reins for the third time in his international career and becomes the 23rd Black Caps ODI captain.

The Black Caps lost the toss and Southee said they would have bowled first on a "fresh wicket".

''We would have bowled first,'' he said. ''It's a new wicket but it looks a pretty good surface.''

He has a faultless 2-0 record as skipper, leading the Black Caps to victory over Pakistan and the West Indies in T20s.

However this will be the sternest test of his fledgling captaincy career.

England are coming off the back of a series win in Australia and have potency right through their batting order.

The likes of captain Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes all can take the game away from New Zealand.

In team news, Mark Chapman will make his Black Caps debut as Williamson's replacement in the only change from the victorious side from game one.

Black Caps: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Mark Chapman, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid.