New Zealand host Zimbabwe in Dunedin in the first match of the 5th Round of the 1992 World Test Championship.
New Zealand have so far misfired with the bat, showing a heavy reliance on Andrew Jones, with Martin Crowe being inconsistent in the early matches.
With the bowling also struggling apart from a couple of good performances by Chris Cairns, New Zealand have so far failed to register a win.
This match represents an important chance for the home team to change that.
Zimbabwe have been dreadful so far, not threatening their opponents in a below Test standard start to the season.
Batsmen like Andy Flower and Dave Houghton have so far disappointed, but if they fire on the back of a bowling performance like that in the first innings against the West Indies an upset may be possible.
New Zealand make two changes to their lineup, bringing in batsman Rod Latham for seamer Willy Watson and bringing back Smith as keeper for Parore.
Zimbabwe are unchanged from the team that competed so gamely on the first day against competition leaders West Indies.
Pitch: 94 - A high scoring match is in prospect on this well prepared wicket which is likely to give the batsmen the upper hand throughout. Nothing for the bowlers to enthuse about until very late in the match when the spinners may begin to find the ball turning slowly as the surface wears.
1st Day Conditions:
Pitch: 1 - Good Batting Wicket
Weather: 3 - Sunny, some cloud about
New Zealand lineup:
B.R.Hartland, J.G.Wright, A.H.Jones, M.D.Crowe (c), K.R.Rutherford, R.T.Latham, D.N.Patel, C.L.Cairns, I.D.S.Smith (wk), M.L.Sua, D.K.Morrison
Zimbabwe lineup:
K.J.Arnott, G.W.Flower, A.D.R.Campbell, A.J.Pycroft, D.L.Houghton (c), A.Flower (wk), G.J.Crocker, E.A.Brandes, M.G.Burmester, A.J.Traicos, M.P.Jarvis
Toss: New Zealand
New Zealand won the toss, and with conditions perfect for batting early in the match, elected to bat first.
It seemed a priceless opportunity for a struggling New Zealand batting order to post a dominant performance against a mediocre attack.
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