Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the opening T20 international between New Zealand and England at Durham's Riverside Ground.
After their shaky win over non-test nation UAE, needing victory in the third fixture to secure series success, the Blackcaps have regrouped, with several frontline players returning to the group for the World Cup one-day build-up.
The tourists will face England in four T20s and four ODIs, with the World Cup scheduled to begin in India on October 10.
Several Blackcaps are already well atune to local conditions, after contesting The Hundred competition, but they'll miss allrounder Jimmy Neesham, who scored 57 off 33 balls for Oval Invincibles in their final victory.
TAB Odds: England $1.39, NZ $2.80
New Zealand: Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman/Tim Seifert, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra/Cole McConchie, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee (capt), Lockie Ferguson/Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi
England: Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan/Brydon Carse, Luke Wood, Gus Atkinson
Join us at 5am for the start of play.
