Jeetan Patel looks set to be omitted for the opening one-day match between New Zealand and the West Indies in Queenstown.

Spin bowler Patel was a feature in both Twenty20 matches as he and captain Daniel Vettori followed up their twin spin effort in the second Test in Napier - where Patel took five for 110 in the second innings - with two more wicket-taking performances in Auckland and Hamilton.

But Vettori hinted that Queenstown pitch will be better suited to seam bowling, meaning a possible return for Mark Gillespie at the expense of Patel.

"If you look back at the history of this wicket, the seamers have normally fronted up early on and taken early wickets and given teams a chance," he said.

"So I think we would look to go towards the seam option and that probably means Jeetan misses out.

"But we will look again (at the wicket) tomorrow morning. It`s probably a little bit drier than we`ve seen in the past but still that pace and bounce will be there I think."

Other bowling options for Vettori include recalled all-rounder Grant Elliott and Jesse Ryder alongside new ball bowlers Kyle Mills, Tim Southee and Gillespie if selected.

Queenstown has been a happy hunting ground for New Zealand. They have lost only one match, against Pakistan in 2004, in six appearances at the picturesque South Island ground.

"We do like coming down here and enjoy playing on this wicket," Vettori added.

"It`s probably one of the few grounds in New Zealand that has a bit of pace and bounce in the deck. So therefore the seamers do tend to thrive a little bit and were hoping for the same in this game."

Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum`s 130-run opening stand in Hamilton provided the foundation for New Zealand's victory in the final Twenty20 match and Vettori was hoping for more of the same from his openers on New Year's Eve.

However, he will be hoping for a better performance from the rest of his batsmen after the Black Caps slumped from 130 for one to 191 for nine in Hamilton.

"The top order have proved themselves for a while now in the one-day format of the game," he said.

"I`m looking forward to that top four or five in particular stepping up and setting up a great platform because in most one-day games your top five wins it and were hoping for the same here."

New Zealand head into the match ranked fifth in the International Cricket Council one-day rankings but should they lose the five-match series they would drop to eighth.

A 4-1 win or series whitewash would however move New Zealand up to fourth.

The West Indies are currently ranked eighth and are desperate to improve their standing.

"Obviously we have England in the Caribbean as well so it is important we not only win this series not only for the rankings but for that series back home," said Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Sarwan, one of the senior players in a largely youthful West Indies side, endured a poor Test series with scores of eight, 11 and one but struck a timely half-century in Sunday`s match in Hamilton.

"I was struggling during the Test series and to score a few during the Twenty20, I was pretty happy," he added.

"Hopefully I can take the same sort of form into the one-day version of the game and I'm looking forward to the series."