Auckland: South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand in their World Cup semi-final at Eden Park on Tuesday.
Conditions are ripe for swing bowling with moisture in the atmosphere following overnight rain and with showers forecast for later in the day.
Matt Henry replaces injured Adam Milne for the Black Caps while Vernon Philander comes in for Kyle Abbott for South Africa.
“There is a bit of cloud cover so hopefully it will swing for us a bit,” New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said while South Africa skipper AB de Villiers said he was happy with his decision to bat first.
“It looks a good wicket and we rank ourselves to do well against them,” he said.
Teams
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry
South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir
Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Weather: Fine spells, isolated showers. Light winds. Maximum temperature 23 Celsius.
Pitch: Eden Park is a drop-in wicket in a multi-purpose stadium where New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup four years ago. It tends to be a slow wicket and has produced only six innings in excess of 300. The best bowling performance is Trent Boult’s 5-27 against Australia in the World Cup three weeks ago. – AFP
