daniel chigunwe
Seamers Ben Sears, Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke will play their first global tournament at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates next month after being named in the New Zealand squad yesterday.
Matt Henry will lead the New Zealand attack after the international retirements of stalwarts Trent Boult and Tim Southee with Lockie Ferguson making up a five-strong pace battery.
Sears returns from a knee injury that kept him out of action for much of last year, while O’Rourke and Smith impressed in the recent test series against England and the short format series against Sri Lanka that followed.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner will lead the 15-man squad after his appointment as his country’s white-ball captain last month.
Santner, Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell are the only survivors of the New Zealand squad for the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017.
“We’re currently blessed with a lot of quality players and that certainly made for some challenging selection discussions,” said coach Gary Stead.
“We’ve gone with the squad that will offer us the best options to perform well in the expected conditions in Pakistan and the UAE.”
The Black Caps will play warm-up matches against Pakistan, South Africa and Afghanistan in Karachi and Lahore before the tournament gets underway on February 19.
Squad: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young. — Reuters.
Online Reporter