The spotlight will be on openers, Wasim Jaffer and Devang Gandhi, left-arm spinner Murali Karthik and all-rounder Sridharan Sriram who have been among the reckoning for a berth in the National squad. A wet spell in the past two days has jeopardised the start of the match. Though the pitch remains dry, the outfield is a cause for worry.

The teams (from)

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Horne, Craig Spearman, Matthew Bell, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Adam Parore (wicket-keeper), Chris Harris, Dion Nash, Chris Drum, Shayne O'Connor, Andrew Penn, Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman.

India A: Amol Muzumdar (captain), Devang Gandhi, Wasim Jaffer, Abhijit Kale, Manoj Mudgal (wicket-keeper), Sridharan Sriram, Connor Williams, Murali Karthik, IqbalSiddiqui, Amit Bhandari, Sanjay Kumar Satpathy, Sachin Nair and Jatinder Singh.

Umpires: AV Jayaprakash (Karnataka) and Madan Singh (Karnataka).