Kane Williamson to lead New Zealand in T20I series against Bangladesh

NAPIER: New Zealand’s white-ball captain Kane Williamson is back to lead the side in the shortest form of the game via the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh.

Williamson last played a T20I against India at Mount Maunganui in November 2022 and missed recent assignments in the format, including this year’s series in England, as he continued to recover from knee surgery.

Apart from Williamson, Jimmy Neesham and Ben Sears also return to the T20I team after missing the series against England, with the latter set to play his first international game at home after earning all caps in overseas conditions.

Opener Devon Conway wasn’t considered for selection as he continues a period of rest following a heavy workload this year. Michael Bracewell (Achilles), Lockie Ferguson (Achilles), Matt Henry (hamstring) and Henry Shipley (back) weren’t considered due to injury. Left-arm fast-bowler Trent Boult made himself unavailable for selection for the series.

Head coach Gary Stead said the series against Bangladesh represented the start of the team’s preparation for next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in the West Indies and United States of America from June 4-30.

“It’s great to be able to finish off a busy year that started on the road by having the group together in New Zealand. We’ve played T20 cricket in a wide variety of conditions this year and it’s been great to see a broad range of players making contributions.”

“Tim Seifert, as an example, returned to the side in a specific role at the top of the order and made significant contributions in each series he was part of. With a World Cup in the middle of next year we‘re well into our planning in terms of both the tournament and the type of squad we might need in the conditions.

“While we’re advanced in our planning, as we saw with the One Day World Cup Squad this year with the likes of Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra - there is certainly still time for players to come into that mix,” he said on the squad make-up.

Stead will be joined by regular batting coach Luke Ronchi, and Canterbury Men’s Development Coach Brendon Donkers as bowling coach, with the group also receiving assistance from NZC High Performance Network Coach Dean Brownlie.

The Blackcaps T20I squad will assemble on Boxing Day in Napier, ahead of the series starting at McLean Park on December 27, before the teams head to Tauranga’s Bay Oval for the final two matches of the series leading into the New Year on December 29 and 31 respectively.

New Zealand T20I squad: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, and Tim Southee