Eden Park's portable pitch will get an airing on Tuesday as the State Championship four-day competition resumes after the January break for the domestic one-day series.

The top two teams after the first four rounds come together on the main ground. Canterbury with 16 points make the journey north to confront an Auckland team who have a tenuous hold on second place with 13 points, just one ahead of Northern Districts.

Both teams have to lift themselves from disappointments in the one-day series - Canterbury after going down to Wellington in the final, Auckland after a disastrous second half following early promise.

The teams have a number of changes from their line-ups for the last round of four-day matches between Christmas and New Year. For Auckland, Matt Horne, Mark Richardson, Chris Drum return while Gareth Shaw takes the place of the injured Kyle Mills.

The Auckland 12 are: Brooke Walker (captain), Tim McIntosh, Matt Horne, Mark Richardson, Reece Young, Nick Horsley, Aaron Barnes, Llorne Howell, Rob Nicol, Tama Canning, Gareth Shaw and Chris Drum.

Ryan Burson, Peter Fulton and Stephen Cunis have joined the Canterbury side that beat Central Districts in the last round of the Championship.

The Canterbury 12 are: Gary Stead (captain), Jarrod Englefield, Shanan Stewart, Aaron Redmond, Gareth Hopkins, Paul Wiseman, Robbie Frew, Warren Wisneski, Chris Martin, Ryan Burson, Peter Fulton and Stephen Cunis.

© CricInfo