Mills to lead New Zealand in Sri Lanka series

Saturday, 2 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, will lead the side in the limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka later this month. Mills was named captain after Kane Williamson had to fly home from the ongoing Bangladesh tour with a fractured thumb. Williamson himself had been set to lead the side only because regular captain Brendon McCullum and senior batsman Ross Taylor were asked to skip the Sri Lanka series and instead prepare for the home Tests against West Indies later this year. Mills, who has played 154 ODIs and is New Zealand’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, will get to captain New Zealand for the first time. One of Mills’ first tasks as captain would be to repair a wobbling batting that fell short of the target in both their run-chases against Bangladesh this week to lose the series. On their previous visit to Sri Lanka, New Zealand were defeated 3-0, and without McCullum, Taylor and Williamson in their ranks, Mills and New Zealand can expect another difficult outing. Other changes in the squad include a recall for batting all-rounder Rob Nicol, who last played an ODI in January, and for quick bowler Andrew Ellis, who has been called up after a back injury to Ian Butler. “It’s disappointing that Ian’s back didn’t settle in time for the Sri Lanka tour,” New Zealand’s selection chief, Bruce Edgar, said. “We’ll also bring in Otago’s Neil Broom for the final ODI and the two Twenty20s as additional cover.” New Zealand will play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting with the opener in Hambantota on 10 November. Squad: Kyle Mills (capt), Corey Anderson, Anton Devcich, Grant Elliott, Andrew Ellis, Tom Latham (wk), Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Rob Nicol, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Neil Broom (for final ODI and T20s)

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