West Indies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul won the toss and sent New Zealand in to bat on the opening day of the first cricket test here at Eden Park today.
With the drop-in pitch expected to aid the seamers, it was no surprise Chanderpaul chose to field first.
It will putextra pressure on the Black Caps untested top order, with Jamie How making his debut and Hamish Marshall, a regular No 3, opening in a test for the first time.
First drop Peter Fulton is also making his debut.
Other features of the New Zealand camp see Jeetan Patel omitted from the 13-man squad with James Franklin and Chris Martin to share the third seamers spot behind Shane Bond.
West Indies have named star allrounder Dwayne Bravo as a batsman only, while they welcome Brian Lara into camp after the world record test run holder skipped the recent one-day series won by New Zealand 4-1.
Fidel Edwards will spearhead West Indies attack along with Jerome Taylor, while right-arm fast bowler Ian Bradshaw makes his debut.
TEAMS:
New Zealand: Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, Chris Martin. 12th man: Kyle Mills.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor. 12th man: Rawl Lewis. Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).
