Pakistan Elect to Bowl Against New Zealand in 1st Test

Dunedin: Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf won the toss and chose to bowl in the first Test against New Zealand at University Oval in Dunedin on Tuesday.

A greenish wicket and some cloud cover influenced the decision from Yousuf, who leads a young Pakistan lineup in the absence of regular captain Younis Khan.

"There's a bit of grass on the wicket," Yousuf said. "Obviously, the first two or three hours of the first day are difficult (for batsmen) and that's why I chose to bowl first."

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said New Zealand had hoped to bat first, though he had some reservations about the cloud cover which was likely to create swing early on the first day.

"We wanted to bat as all the talk is that the pitch won't do as much as expected," Vettori said.

New Zealand omitted seamer Daryl Tuffey and off-spinner Jeetan Patel from its match XI, naming paceman Shane Bond to play his first Test in two years. Bond will share the pace duties with Iain O'Brien and Chris Martin while Vettori is New Zealand's specialist spinner.

Pakistan's bowling lineup included Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir and Umar Gul.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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