SOUTHAMPTON, England - New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field against India in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday.
Persistent rain washed out the entire opening day's play on Friday and Williamson said the overcast conditions prompted his decision to put India in to bat.
"The conditions, a bit of weather around, hopefully we can make use of the first hour, get a bit of seam movement," Williamson said.
New Zealand went into the match with an all-seam attack, leaving out spinner Ajaz Patel and picking all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme instead.
India had announced their playing XI on Thursday, playing both their spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, and picking veteran Ishant Sharma as the third seamer ahead of Mohammed Siraj in their five-man attack.
"We'd have probably bowled first as well looking at the conditions but putting runs on the board has been our strength over the years, and that's something we are going to back," India captain Virat Kohli said.
Organisers have allocated a reserve day to make up for lost time.
The one-off match marks the culmination of a two-year cycle of the inaugural WTC, launched in 2019 to create a pinnacle event for test cricket.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)