New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori will bat at number six in the series decider against Pakistan, which starts in Napier on Friday.

Vettori, who averages 29.87 in 96 Tests, took the decision to allow his side to have a five-man bowling attack in the winner-takes-all third Test at McLean Park, a venue that has favoured batsmen in recent years.

Depending on conditions, seam bowler Tim Southee or off-spinner Jeetan Patel will come into the New Zealand team. With the wicket appearing to have more grass covering than usual, Southee is the clear favourite.

The Black Caps are likely to be without all-rounder Grant Elliott, who is struggling with a knee injury, while Peter Fulton has been dropped.

The task of stiffening New Zealand's misfiring top order falls to South African-born batsman BJ Watling.

Watling has been in good form in domestic cricket this season but boasts a first-class career average of only 30.35.

He looks set to open the batting with Tim McIntosh, allowing Martin Guptill and Daniel Flynn to bat at three and five respectively.

Medium-pacer Iain O'Brien will be making his farewell appearance, having already announced he will retire from international cricket after the match.

Pakistan are looking to continue the form that brought them a 141-run victory in the second Test in Wellington to level the series at 1-1.

The tourists could name an unchanged XI although the out-of-form Shoaib Malik is in danger of being dropped for Faisal Iqbal.

Key Players:

New Zealand: Iain O'Brien will be keen to make his final Test count so one can expect that the speedster will give it all he's got in order to win the match for his country and help them bag a series victory.

Pakistan: Mohammad Yousuf has the perfect pitch at his disposal to play a captain's knock and with Younis Khan missing the tour of Australia, the veteran will be eager to cement his spot at the helm of the team.

Prediction

The weather forecast is looking excellent and it's likely that the Test will go on uninterrupted. The pitch favours sides who can bat for long periods of time so provided the Kiwis' top-order come together, New Zealand will pull off a victory. We can but hope that it's as thrilling as the first Test.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results:

2009: Second Test - Pakistan won by 141 runs in Wellington
2009: First Test - New Zealand won by 32 runs in Dunedin
2003: Second Test - Pakistan won by seven wickets in Wellington
2003: First Test - Match drawn in Hamilton
2002: First Test - Pakistan won by an innings and 324 runs in Lahore

Squads

New Zealand : Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (wicketkeeper), Iain O'Brien, Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel.

Pakistan: Mohammad Yousuf (captain) Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umer Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Rudi Koertzen
Match Referee: Alan Hurst

Dates: 11-15 December; First Session: 23:00 (previous day)-01:00, Second Session: 01:40-03:40, Third Session: 4:00-06:00 (all times GMT)