Wellington, Feb 26 NZPA - New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and chose to bat first against Australia in the first Twenty20 cricket international at Westpac Stadium here today.

New Zealand made paceman Tim Southee 12th man, meaning Nathan McCullum would play as a second spinner alongside Vettori on what appeared a good batting pitch likely to get slower later in the night.

Australia omitted Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, Travis Birt and Michael Hussey, with paceman Dirk Nannes replacing Harris from their win over West Indies in Sydney on Tuesday.

Australia have won all three previous Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand.

The weather was fine and warm with a start expected on time at 7pm (NZT).

Teams:-

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond.

Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Shane Watson, David Hussey, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, Daniel Christian, Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, Gary Baxter.