New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss Tuesday and chose to bowl against Zimbabwe in a decisive World Twenty20 match at Providence, Guyana.
The two teams are battling to join Sri Lanka as qualifiers from Group B.
Zimbabwe must win at Guyana National Stadium to have any chance of advancing. New Zealand can progress with a narrow loss after having already beaten Sri Lanka by two wickets off the penultimate ball last Friday.
New Zealand selected the same team, while Zimbabwe made two changes to the team that lost to Sri Lanka in a rain-affected match on Monday. Allrounders Andy Blignaut and Timycen Maruma replace batsman Brendan Taylor and fast bowler Chris Mpofu.