Wellington, March 19 NZPA - Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat first in the first cricket test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve here today.

New Zealand made one change from their 121-run win over Bangladesh last month, with 31-year-old Northern Districts paceman Brent Arnel handed a test debut at the expense of spinner Jeetan Patel.

Australia suffered a late blow when in-form allrounder Shane Watson was ruled out after failing to recover from a hip injury suffered during game four of the one-day series. He was replaced by young opener Phil Hughes.

Queensland paceman Ryan Harris was given a test debut after passing a fitness test on a side strain.

The weather was fine and mild with a start due on time at 11am (NZT).

Teams:-

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling, Peter Ingram, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Brent Arnel, Chris Martin.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Simon Katich, Phil Hughes, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Doug Bollinger.

Umpires: Ian Gould (England), Asad Rauf (Pakistan).