The BLACKCAPS pace-bowling stocks have been bolstered by the return of Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears for the upcoming Chappell-Hadlee Trophy KFC T20I series against Australia at Bay Oval in the first week of October.
Jamieson, who missed the recent BLACKCAPS series in Zimbabwe to welcome the birth of his first child, joins in-form seamer Matt Henry, ICC number one ranked T20I bowler Jacob Duffy, Canterbury’s Zak Foulkes, and Sears in the seam attack.
Sears was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour with a side injury and returns to face Australia having made his Test debut against them in 2023-24 home season, while Jamieson is set to face the trans-Tasman rivals for the first time since the 2021, when the BLACKCAPS claimed the KFC T20I series 3-2 at home.
Michael Bracewell will lead the T20I team in the absence of white-ball captain Mitchell Santner, who was ruled out of the series following abdominal surgery and will instead target a return in England’s white-ball tour later in the month.
Bracewell has led the BLACKCAPS T20I side on 10 occasions, registering six wins, three losses and a no-result, with the most recent series at home in March resulting in a 4-1 victory over Pakistan.
Bevon Jacobs has retained his spot in the T20I team, after the 23-year-old impressed on debut with 44* not-out off 30 balls against South Africa during the recent T20I Tri Series in Zimbabwe.
Devon Conway maintains his place after being called in as an injury replacement in Zimbabwe, while Tim Seifert continues as the batter-wicketkeeper and will enter the series in good form after smashing the fastest century in the history of the Caribbean Premier League for the St Lucia Kings earlier this month.
Tim Robinson retains his batting spot after a player of the match performance against South Africa in the Tri Series, while Ish Sodhi snares the specialist spinner role, after claiming six wickets across his two T20Is in Zimbabwe – becoming the third men’s player in the world to 150 T20I wickets.
Alongside Santner, Finn Allen (foot), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O’Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), and Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), were unavailable due to injury.
Kane Williamson, who on Monday was confirmed to play on an NZC international casual playing agreement this season, made himself unavailable for the Australia series.
Bracewell said the side was motivated by the prospect of creating some history in the upcoming series.
“The Chappell-Hadlee Series is a great way to start the summer,” he said.
“I grew up watching those series and the rivalry is massive between New Zealand and Australia.
“Since 2016 it [the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy] hasn’t been with us, and that’s something we want to change. Having the opportunity to fight for that on home soil is pretty special.”
Bracewell believed the ‘20 years of men's T20I’ celebrations at Bay Oval and the form of both sides would make for an entertaining few days in the Mount.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since that first ever men's T20 International at Eden Park,” he said.
“It's amazing to see how far the format has come and I know both sides are looking forward to marking the milestone in style at Bay Oval, which apparently they’re nicknaming Beige Oval for the series.
“I really need to plan ahead, as it takes a bit of time to grow something like this [a moustache] on my face. I’m trying my best to get into the spirit of that 2005 team and the way they went about it 20 years ago.
“Australia has been playing some really good cricket of late, and so have we, so it should make for an amazing series and a great occasion to be a part of.”
The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy KFC T20I series against Australia gets underway at 7:15pm on October 1 at Bay Oval in Tauranga, with games two and three at the same venue on Friday October 3 and Saturday October 4, respectively.
The series will be broadcast live and free-to-air in New Zealand on TVNZ+, TVNZ 1 and TVNZ DUKE, with Sport Nation and the Alternative Commentary Collective providing audio commentary.
Tickets for the three-game series are selling fast with fans encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance to avoid missing out.
BLACKCAPS T20I squad
Michael Bracewell (c)
Mark Chapman
Devon Conway
Jacob Duffy
Zak Foulkes
Matt Henry
Bevon Jacobs
Kyle Jamieson
Daryl Mitchell
Rachin Ravindra
Tim Robinson
Ben Sears
Tim Seifert
Ish Sodhi
Australia T20I squad
Mitchell Marsh (c)
Sean Abbott
Xavier Bartlett
Tim David
Ben Dwarshuis
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Josh Inglis
Matt Kuhnemann
Glenn Maxwell
Mitchell Owen
Matthew Short
Marcus Stoinis
Adam Zampa
