New Zealand cricket captain Ross Taylor isn't expecting a grassy wicket at Napier's McLean Park to do all the work for his bowlers at the start of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe.
He's well aware it will take a concerted all-round effort for the Black Caps to improve on their shaky 34-run win over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in November.
"We know we're the favourites, and we're not often favourite when it comes to Test cricket," he said.
Taylor acknowledged the usually docile McLean Park pitch could prove a little more challenging than usual to bat on in today's match.
"I wouldn't say it's a green wicket, but there's a lot more grass on it.
"It will be a lot bouncier than the more traditional Napier wickets."
But Taylor said it would be dangerous for his four-strong seam attack of Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Chris Martin - backed up by the spin of Daniel Vettori - to relax too much.
Although he classed it as a result wicket, Taylor said he expected day three and four to be relatively flat and other factors would come into play.
"Ball maintenance is going to be the key if we go in with four seamers," Taylor said.
"It's not necessarily grassy wickets, it's how we look after the ball and how we use our quick bowlers with reverse swing and conventional swing as well."
Taylor said Zimbabwe struggled with the short ball in their three-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Gisborne earlier this week.
"That's an area we'll be targetting - I'm sure with this extra bounce, we'll be able to test out their techniques."
NZN