Nicol and van Wyk Debut, Kiws to Bowl

Dunedin: New Zealand captain Ross Taylor won the toss and sent South Africa in to bat on a rain-shortened opening day of the first Test in Dunedin on Wednesday.

With four hours of playing time lost to the weather, Taylor said he hoped the damp conditions at the University Oval would help the ball move around and produce early wickets.

South Africa are strong favourites to win the three-match series after dominating the home team so far during their first trip to New Zealand in eight years.

The Proteas won the Twenty20 series 2-1 and cruised to a 3-0 whitewash in the one-day matches.

A similar clean sweep in the Test series would see them overtake England as the number one team in the ICC world Test rankings.

Teams:

New Zealand: Rob Nicol, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (captain), Kane Williamson, Daniel Vettori, Kruger van Wyk (wk), Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Chris Martin, Andrew Ellis (12th man)

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Mark Boucher (wk), Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Vernon Philander, Marchant de Lange (12th man)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings - 34th Match Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad - 35th Match 2nd T20I - Pakistan v New Zealand - April 20, 14:30 GMT 36th Match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore - April 21, 10:00 GMT 1st T20I - Pakistan v New Zealand at Rawalpindi No result 33rd Match - Punjab Kings v Mumbai Indians at Chandigarh Mumbai Indians won by 9 runs

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