Auckland, Sept.27 : Left arm spinner Daniel Vettori was today confirmed as New Zealand's 26th Test captain when he was chosen to lead the New Zealand cricket team on next month's two-test tour to South Africa.

Vettori replaces Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain for the past decade, who was dropped from the position earlier this month after resigning the limited-overs captaincy. Fleming, however, retained his place in the 15-man test squad as a specialist batsman.

Craig Cumming and Michael Papps were selected as the preferred opening partnership in the most contentious facet of the selection for Test matches at Johannesburg November 8-12 and Centurion from November 16-20.

New Zealand squad: Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Craig Cumming, Stephen Fleming, Mark Gillespie, Peter Fulton, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor. (With inputs from ANI)