Trist wants side to bounce back from South African losses

“We’ve come together pretty late but the guys needed a bit of a breather after the tour of South Africa,”Trist said. “We have to move on and prepare positively – we have to be right at our best and I think we’ll be pretty close to it.

“We need to get on the winning track again.”

Weather forecasters are predicting drizzle over the next few days.

“Any rain reduces the possibility of a result,”said Trist. “We want to get ahead on the first day and stay ahead right through.”

Trist remains cautious of Zimbabwe despite New Zealand’s 1-0 series win there in September.

“They play a style of cricket that best supports their player base. We have to be patient as well, we need a clinical approach similar to what we used in Zimbabwe.

“They will have high expectations after playing reasonably well in India.”

Zimbabwe lost the Test series 1-0 to India but their batting was solid with Andy Flower in strong form with unbeaten scores of 232 and 183 against India.

Flower, a late arrival on tour with his wife Rebecca expecting their baby, said the team was determined to atone for earlier bad performances in Wellington.

“We’ve been hammered every time we’ve played here – we have something to prove that we can play in these conditions,” said Flower.

New Zealand crushed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the first of the 1998 series and Zimbabwe has yet to win a One-Day international on the ground.

New Zealand has never lost a Test against Zimbabwe, winning five of the 10 encounters since 1992.

The New Zealand side will be finalised after a final pitch inspection on Tuesday with the selectors only having to decide between rookie legspinner Brooke Walker and untried allrounder James Franklin.

Zimbabwe has had to contend with injury and illness since arrival.

The most serious setback was top-order batsman Grant Flower’s fractured finger, sustained while fielding against Canterbury.

He will stay with the team but is not expected to be fit until Zimbabwe plays Australia and the West Indies in a tri-series in Australia beginning in January.

Teams (from):

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (capt.), Mark Richardson, Matthew Horne, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, James Franklin, Paul Wiseman, Shayne O’Connor, Chris Martin, Brooke Walker.

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (capt.), Guy Whittall, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Andy Flower, Trevor Madondo, Doug Marillier, Gavin Rennie, Brian Murphy, Henry Olonga, Bryan Strang, Travis Friend.