Australia are the current holder of the Trans-Tasman trophy as they had defeated New Zealand at their backyard last year.
Now, Australia have a tough task ahead of them, as they will face New Zealand in the 1st Test of the Trans-Tasman trophy at The Basin Reserve in Wellington from Friday in order to retain the silverware.
This will be the last Test series for Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum and he wishes to sign off with a win against Australia. But he is well aware of the fact that the Men in the Baggy Green's are a strong side and it will be a thrilling contest for sure.
"I'm looking forward to finishing these next two Test matches. It's going to be a great series, two very evenly matched teams I think, and what better way to go out?" McCullum was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Both sides can expect the ball to swing because of the conditions. There is a fair amount of grass cover on the pitch and that is likely to generate a lot of movement of the deck. Altogether it looked like a good Test-cricket surface.
Australia are likely to ask Usman Khawaja to open the batting along with David Warner. The southpaw had a brilliant summer with a number of centuries under his belt. He was also one of the highest run-getters during the last edition of the Trans-Tasman series Down Under last year. Unfortunately, he missed out on the last Test because of a hamstring injury.
Steve Smith has also been in good shape. The Australia captain has scored lots of runs in the longest format of the game recently. He is well aware of the conditions in Wellington and has asked his fellow batsmen to be watchful when they come out to bat.
"You've got to play the ball under your eyes, you can't really push out in front of yourself. I think that's one of the most important things. Making sure you're leaving really well, being patient, and then if someone bowls a loose ball you've got to climb into it," Smith said ahead of the 1st Test in Wellington.
"We haven't been good enough with the bat on wickets that have been doing a bit in the last year or so. The wicket here looks like it might do a bit so we've got a bit to prove and we've got to adapt accordingly, a lot better than we have in recent times."
Squads:
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (C), Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling (wk), Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.
Australia: Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Peter Siddle, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.
Where to watch live:
The 1st Test of the Trans-Tasman series between New Zealand and Australia is scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. local time (3 am IST and 9:30 p.m. GMT) start. Unfortunately, there will be no live coverage of the game in India.
Viewers in Australia can catch the live action of the 1st Test between Australia and New Zealand on Fox Sports. The live streaming option will be available on Foxtel Play and cricket.com.au.
Audience in the UK can tune into Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports HD 3 to watch New Zealand vs Australia 3rd ODI live. Watch Sky Sports will live stream the match at the same time.
Fans in New Zealand can watch New Zealand vs Australia 1st Test on SkySport.
US viewers can tune into Willow TV. They can also live-stream the 1st Test on Willow TV online.
