Australia won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand after their batting line-up suffered a late blow ahead of the first one-day international in Auckland on Monday.
A back injury meant wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade was a late exclusion from an Australia team already missing David Warner, Usman Khawaja and captain Steve Smith.
Wade had been picked to lead the tourists in Smith´s absence but opening batsman Aaron Finch found himself promoted to stand-in skipper just before play began.
“It´s been a bit of a whirlwind, unfortunately Wadey hasn´t come through from a back injury he picked up yesterday at training,” he said after winning the toss.
Finch said he chose to bowl to make the most of fine conditions at Eden Park.
“There seems to be a little bit in the wicket, if it´s going to do anything hopefully it´s in the sun,” he said.
New Zealand are seeking revenge for a 3-0 whitewash when the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was contested in Australia last month.
The Black Caps also have a stronger batting line-up than the last time they played Australia thanks to the introduction of Ross Taylor and Neil Broom.
Teams
New Zealand:
Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Australia:
Aaron Finch (captain), Travis Head, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Heazlett, James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood.
Umpire:
Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI), Third umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match Referee:
Rajan Madugalle (SRI) – (AFP)
