AFP - New Zealand captain Ross Taylor won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the first of three Twenty20 internationals at Eden Park on Sunday.
In a match being played under overcast skies, both sides are desperate for a win to boost sagging fortunes.
Depleted Pakistan are struggling to overcome the impact of spot-fixing accusations ahead of an International Cricket Council inquiry next week while New Zealand are trapped in an 11-match losing streak.
New Zealand are also without their two most senior players with Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum on the injured list and will be blooding two new caps in 18-year-old quick Adam Milne and batsman Dean Brownlie.
In the Pakistan line up Umar Akmal, who kept wickets in their sole warm-up match in which they lost to Auckland, has retained his place at the expense of his specialist 'keeper brother Adnan.
Teams
New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Dean Brownlie, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ian Butler (12th man).
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Rehman (12th man).
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL), Barry Frost (NZL)
TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (ENG)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama
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