NZ vs Aus 1st T20 - Australia Set to Kick off Kiwis Tour

Wellington: With Australia boasting a 3-0 win-loss record in the three previous clashes between the countries, the series opens at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on Friday night before the second match follows at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday evening.

Australia has been on song for much of the summer, winning five of the six Tests, nine of the 10 one-day internationals and all three Twenty20 games against the West Indies and Pakistan, with only a drawn Test and washed out ODI preventing a possible clean sweep of the 19 matches.

And with Michael Clarke's team in the shortest form of the game set, the Aussies will have arrived in New Zealand bristling with confidence after scoring 179 batting first in Tasmania on Sunday and then running down the West Indies' total of 7-138 with eight wickets and 8.2 overs to spare.

The Black Caps will be aware of the importance of dismissing openers David Warner and Shane Watson as cheaply as possible after Warner dominated their first-wicket stand of 99 with 67 from 29 balls and then Watson took up where he left off as he finished unbeaten on 62 from 33 deliveries.

Warner belted seven sixes and five boundaries in his innings, along the way reaching his 50 in only 18 balls, making it the second-fastest half-century in Twenty20 history behind only Yuvraj Singh's 12-ball 50 against England in 2007.

Team news

New Zealand have named a 12-man squad, which makes their selections relatively easy. Shane Bond is back in the group having missed the Bangladesh series and Tim Southee is the most likely to make way for Bond.

Squad (likely): Brendon McCullum (wk), Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Gareth Hopkins, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori (capt), Nathan McCullum, Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey.

Australia: Dirk Nannes was rested from the final Twenty20 against West Indies but expect him to return to form a very fast opening combination with Shaun Tait. Ryan Harris could be squeezed out despite making a good debut on Tuesday, or the selectors might decide to give Mitchell Johnson a rest.

Squad (likely): Shane Watson, David Warner, Michael Clarke (capt), David Hussey, Cameron White, Brad Haddin (wk), Daniel Christian, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Pitch and conditions
Twenty20 internationals at Westpac Stadium have tended to produce scores around 150-160. The forecast for Friday in Wellington is fine with a top temperature of 19C.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand and Australia have played three Twenty20 internationals against each other - Australia have won them all
• It is five years since these same teams played the first ever Twenty20 international - of the 22 players involved in that match only Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey are in the mix to play this game
• Brendon McCullum has played more Twenty20 internationals than any other player in the world and has also scored the most runs

Match facts
Friday, February 26, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 19:00 local (0600 GMT)