New Zealand stalwart Ross Taylor brings great news for the hosts ahead of their first day-night Test against England, as Captain Kane Williamson has confirmed on Wednesday that the veteran batsman is fit to play in Auckland.

Since his match-winning knock of 181* in the One Day International series opener, Taylor has not played, suffering from a thigh injury and illness.

The Black Caps and England are scheduled to play the two-match Test series starting with the first Test at on 22 March (Thursday) at Eden Park in Auckland, followed by second on 30 March in Hagley Oval.

Meanwhile, Taylor has now recovered from both thigh injury and illness and joined the national squad during the nest session on Tuesday.

As per Reuters, Williamson said of Ross, “He trained well yesterday. The last 10 days have been a balance of rest and recovery for someone like Ross. That's been the valuable time for him. He's feeling good, good to go, that's great news for us.”

The skipper also confirmed that the leg-spinner Todd Astle will play in place of Mitchell Santner, who has been ruled out for nine months due to knee surgery.

The Auckland Test will be the first Day/Night affair for the Kiwi on the home soil and the skipper believes that the team had great training sessions with the pink ball for the day-night test but said it is all about how to deal with conditions during the match.

Williamson signed off by saying, “There is probably a danger of overcomplicating some of the finer parts of the pink ball game. They have shown different characteristics within those tests and at different stages with different conditions of the ball. It's hard to look into too much but you do want to adapt and think on your feet.”