HAMILTON, New Zealand, Dec 14, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl in warm conditions for the third and final Test against New Zealand in Hamilton on Saturday.

The tourists are chasing a clean sweep after clinching their first series victory on New Zealand soil since 2008 with big wins in Christchurch and Wellington.

Stokes said he wants his team to bring the same winning "mentality" to the game.

"We've played some really good cricket but we've played enough cricket against New Zealand to know they're never going to give up," Stokes said.

New Zealand captain Tom Latham said he was "happy" to bat first.

"We haven't been at our best and we've got an opportunity here to put a performance on the board that we're proud of."

New Zealand have made two changes to their team who were crushed by 323 runs in the second Test in Wellington - their heaviest defeat by runs on home soil.

Spinner Mitchell Santner has been recalled in place of allrounder Nathan Smith, breaking up the four-pronged seam attack employed so far in the series.

It will be Santner's first appearance since he took a career-best 13 wickets in the second Test win over India in Pune in October to secure a series victory.

The second change announced on Friday was the recall of opening batter Will Young in place of Devon Conway.

England's XI was revealed on Friday, with seamer Matthew Potts to play his 10th Test in place of Chris Woakes.

Teams:

New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt), Will Young, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Will O'Rourke.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (capt), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Shoaib Bashir.

Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (SAF), Ahsan Raza (PAK)

TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)

Match referee: David Boon (AUS)