South Africa won the toss and decided to bat against New Zealand
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Lockie Ferguson returns to New Zealand’s line-up © AFP
After chasing twice in the series so far, South Africa will set a target in Wellington after AB de Villiers won the toss and opted to bat.
Both sides made one change: Kagiso Rabada replaced Chris Morris for South Africa and New Zealand brought in fast bowler Lockie Ferguson for legspinner Ish Sodhi.
AB de Villiers called this a “pressure match” and a “moving game” after New Zealand held on to level the series in Christchurch. He has spoken of the need for the top order to take responsibility for controlling an innings after the batsmen have made a number of starts without converting.
Kane Williamson would also have batted first. He does not expect the pitch to offer much turn, hence the switch of Ferguson ahead of Sodhi, and he will have in the back of his mind that the ball can swing here. Tim Southee is the leading wicket-taker at the venue including his 7 for 33 against England at the World Cup.
New Zealand 1 Dean Brownlie, 2 Tom Latham (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult
South Africa 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Andile Phehlukweyo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo