Mitchell Santner and Devon Conway will play a limited role in New Zealand’s Twenty20 series against South Africa to allow them to rest after playing at the recently concluded World Cup, New Zealand Cricket said on Wednesday.
The five-match series against the Proteas begins in Tauranga next Sunday, a week to the day after New Zealand were beaten by 96 runs in the World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad.
Captain Santner and wicketkeeper-batter Conway will play Sunday’s match and the two that follow, while paceman Lockie Ferguson will only be available for games two and three in Hamilton and Auckland next week.
Test skipper Tom Latham will replace Santner as captain and Conway in the wicketkeeper-batter role for game four in Wellington on March 22 and game five in Christchurch on March 25.
Batters Katene Clarke and Nick Kelly and spinner Jayden Lennox, who are all uncapped, have been included in the squad for the last two games.
World Cup squad members Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert will skip the series.
Squad: Mitchell Santner, Katene Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham, Jayden Lennox, Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi.
• The limited-overs series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka scheduled for March in the United Arab Emirates has been postponed due to the crisis in the Middle East, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced on Wednesday.
The teams were due to play three Twenty20s in Sharjah and three One-Day Internationals in Dubai between March 13 and March 25.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran have affected countries throughout the Gulf, disrupting travel in some of the world’s busiest transit hubs and forcing several sporting events to be cancelled.
“Despite the collective efforts of all parties to proceed with the event as planned, the logistical challenges remained beyond operational control, leading to the decision to postpone the series and explore rescheduling options,” ACB said in a statement.
The decision to defer the series was made in consultation with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC), it added.
“The preferred venue for the rescheduled series remains the United Arab Emirates, and the new dates will be announced in due course following further coordination between the respective boards and stakeholders.” — Nick Mulvenney
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