Cricket: NZ make changes for second ODI

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New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has confirmed there will be changes to his side for tomorrow's must-win 50-over encounter with South Africa in Napier.

The Kiwis were soundly beaten by six-wickets by the Proteas in Wellington on Saturday and need to turn things around in game two of the three-match series.

Doug Bracewell and Michael Bates aren't included from the playing 12 that went down during the weekend and they've been replaced by leg-spinner Tarun Nethula and pace bowler Andy McKay.

A decision on who will carry the drinks will be made tomorrow when the conditions have been assessed.

Left-hander Jesse Ryder has been bracketed with youngster Tom Latham as Ryder's troublesome calf continues to be managed.

The Wellingtonian is expected to play but Latham - who was unlucky to miss out on the original squad after making his international debut against Zimbabwe earlier this month - would be a more than adequate replacement.

Rotation is near-on a banned word in New Zealand sport, but McCullum said the changes weren't about that, but a different "R" word.

"It's not rotation as such," McCullum said. "It's the realisation that you can't keep flogging certain people, especially with the volume of cricket under their belt. We think the team that we put out tomorrow is going to be good enough to win, otherwise these players wouldn't be here. So from our point of view, there's certainly no excuses."

South Africa experienced a couple of minor concerns today with Graeme Smith (arm) and Hashim Amla (head cold) being monitored, but skipper AB de Villiers expected both openers to play tomorrow.

McLean Park has been kind to New Zealand, who have won 21 of their 35 one-dayers at the ground, with 11 losses, two draws and one no result.

Tomorrow's game gets under way at 2pm.