"It's nice to get a win early and hopefully we can make an adjustment again on a new wicket," captain Kane Williamson said.

Australia captain Steven Smith said he too would have liked to bat first on a dry wicket at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.

Australia, who will hope to make a winning start to their bid for an elusive World Twenty20 title, have had a problem of plenty at the top of the batting order and Smith confirmed Usman Khawaja will open the innings with Shane Watson.

Khawaja's inclusion meant there was no place for former captain and world No.1 T20 batsman Aaron Finch in the team.

Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 David Warner, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Peter Nevill (wk), 9 Ashton Agar, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 Adam Zampa

New Zealand 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Colin Munro, 4 Corey Anderson, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Mitchell Santner, 7 Grant Elliott, 8 Luke Ronchi (wk), 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Adam Milne, 11 Ish Sodhi

* Deferred live, in compliance with the laws of India