BLACKCAPS captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first cricket test against Australia at the 'Gabba in Brisbane today.
The BLACKCAPS omitted senior paceman Kyle Mills from their 11, meaning allrounder Grant Elliott and 20-year-old paceman Tim Southee were each chosen for their third test appearances.
Australia omitted spinner Jason Krejza, meaning a four-pronged pace attack of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson.
Play was got under way at 1.30pm after a 30-minute delay due to water seeping under the covers overnight.
The weather was fine and warm in Brisbane after several days of rain.
BLACKCAPS: Daniel Vettori (captain), Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ry der, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Grant Elliott, Tim Southee, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Billy Doctrove (West Indies).
NZPA
