Kiwis Seek Consistency Against England

Wellington: New Zealand will stick with the same team that drew the first test against England and are likely to ask the tourists to bat in the second test if they win the toss, captain Brendon McCullum said on Wednesday.

Should McCullum win the toss against Alastair Cook on Thursday and choose to bowl, the onus will fall on his young pace trio who bowled 114 of New Zealand's 170 overs in England's second innings of 421 for six in Dunedin.

None had a particularly heavy workload at training over the past three days, McCullum said, though he doubted they would need much motivation should they be required first thing on Thursday.

New Zealand did surprise England in Dunedin, bowling them out for 167 in the first innings then applying themselves on a pitch that got progressively better to score 460 for nine.

While the visitors batted themselves into a position of safety by the final session of day five, McCullum was ruing the loss of the entire first day and the final session of the third day due to rain.

Had Martin Guptill been fit, it is highly likely that Hamish Rutherford would not have played in the first Test in Dunedin. Rutherford seized his chance with some style, though, and in scoring 171 set a new high for an opener on debut against England. Only Mathew Sinclair, who made 214 on debut against West Indies in 1999, has made a higher score on New Zealand Test debut.

For England, Stuart Broad's form has been the subject of much debate. But while the focus has tended to fall on his bowling - he claimed his first Test wickets since August in Dunedin - his batting has - arguably - fallen away more sharply.

Kevin Pietersen is expected to play despite what Andy Flower described as "a little bit of pain in his right knee."

Teams from

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson

England: Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Nick Compton, Steven Finn, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Joe Root, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes

Pitch and conditions
The pitch is expected to have more pace and bounce than Dunedin, with some claiming it is the quickest in New Zealand. Wellington is a notoriously windy city and some bowlers struggle to adapt to the challenge of running into it.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand and England have played each other in 10 Tests at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. England have won four times and New Zealand only once.
• New Zealand have won four of their last 33 Tests against England dating back to 1986. The last one of those game seven Test ago, at Hamilton in 2008.
• James Anderson needs eight wickets to become the fourth England bowler to take 300 in Tests.

Match facts
March 14-18, 2013
Start time 1030 local (2130 GMT prev day)