Big chance for New Zealand's batsmen

For a New Zealand side that is struggling to get some runs on the board, the McLean Park in Napier represents the best opportunity to regain their confidence and form. The bad news for them, though, is that all those runs haven't yet converted into a Test win for them at this ground - in eight Tests they've drawn six and lost two. Pakistan's only Test here was the first one at this venue, way back in 1979. The match was a tame draw, with the most fascinating aspect being the battle between two outstanding allrounders: both Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee took five wickets in the match, and each got the other out.

New Zealand haven't yet won a Test here, but it's been their best batting venue at home. Since 2000, they've scored six centuries in five Tests, which includes one match when they didn't get to bat at all. The last time they played at the McLean Park, against India earlier in 2009, three batsmen - Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum - got hundreds, but India saved the game thanks to Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman. Here's another stat that will encourage New Zealand's batsmen - they've scored more hundreds here in five games (effectively four) than they have in 15 Tests in Wellington, the venue where they were badly beaten by Pakistan in the second Test.

Among the batsmen in the current squad, Taylor, Tim McIntosh and McCullum all have excellent averages here. They've all scored hundreds here, while Daniel Vettori has a healthy average of 35.25 in his four Tests.

Perhaps even more compelling than all those stats is Chris Martin's batting numbers at McLean Park - he averages 14 here, his highest at any venue.

The bowling stats, though, don't look as impressive, with Martin and Vettori both conceding more than 40 runs per wicket. Tim Southee took five in his only Test, against England, but Jeetan Patel has been the highest wicket-taker here since 2000, taking 14 in three Tests at an impressive average of 33.71, suggesting he could replace one of the fast bowlers in the line-up. He has a strike rate of 79 balls per wicket here, which is much better than Vettori's strike rate of 111. Overall since 2000, fast bowlers average 41.57 per wicket, which is relatively high but still better than the spinners' average of 46.97.

The innings-wise averages further illustrates how good this pitch generally is for batting through the entire Test - the fourth-innings average is almost 44 runs per wicket. Not surprisingly, six out of eight captains have chosen to bat after winning the toss.