England to bat first in opening New Zealand Test
England won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday.
MOUNT MAUNGANUI (AFP) - England won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui on Thursday.
It is the maiden Test at the Bay Oval ground and the tourists skipper Joe Root said it was a good toss to win on a favourable wicket.
"We still have to play well. We ve talked about batting long," he added.
"Nothing beats the first match of a series. It looks like a good surface so hopefully we can start well."
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he would also have batted first but "hopefully we can have little bit of movement out of the wicket and perhaps a bit of swing."
However, both skippers said after a pitch inspection on Wednesday they doubted there would be much movement.
Opener Dom Sibley makes his debut for the visitors, Ollie Pope gets a recall for his first Test since his maiden series against India last year and bowling spearhead Jofra Archer is playing his first Test outside England.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, BJ Watling, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (capt), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Bruce Oxenford (AUS).
TV Umpire: Paul Wilson (AUS).
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).
