NZ elect to bowl in 3rd ODI against Pak

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CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand's stand-in captain Ross Taylor won the toss and elected to bowl in the third one-day cricket international against Pakistan on Saturday.

Taylor takes over from regular captain Daniel Vettori who is being rested while Kane Williamson and Kyle Mills rejoin the New Zealand side along with left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock who will make his one-day debut.

Pakistan named an unchanged team from the one chosen for the second match in Queenstown which was washed out. New Zealand leads the six-match series 1-0 after winning the first match by nine wickets.

Taylor had no hesitation in asking Pakistan to bat after viewing an unusually green pitch at AMI Stadium.

"When we turned up the pitch was the same colour as the outfield," Taylor said. "I've never seen a wicket that colour a couple of hours before a match."

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said he also would have bowled first but was confident the pitch would be good.

"It's a good wicket for batting, maybe a little slow and it will also help the spinners as well," he said.

New Zealand has won 12 of its past 15 completed matches in Christchurch, a ground which has recently favoured batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar scored 163 from 133 balls before retiring hurt when India played on the ground two seasons ago.

"The guys enjoy coming here and Christchurch has certainly been a ground we've played well at in the past, although the different angles and things will make it a little more difficult as captain," Taylor said.

Lineups:

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Luke Woodcock, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett. Nathan McCullum, 12th man.

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shehzad. Asad Shafiq, 12th man.

Umpires: Amiesh Saheba, India, and Gary Baxter, New Zealand.

TV umpire: Barry Frost, New Zealand. Match referee: Alan Hurst, Australia.