New Zealand Squad for T20 World Cup 2022: Williamson to lead; Allen, Bracewell return

New
Zealand
are
the
current
runners-up
in
the
big
event,
having
lost
to
Australia
in
the
title
clash
in
the
UAE
last
year.

Kane
Williamson
will
lead
the
side.
Martin
Guptill
will
play
in
his
seventh
T20
World
Cup
and
Devon
Conway
will
keep
wickets
in
addition
to
his
batting
duties
at
the
tournament,
which
starts
for
the
Black
Caps
with
a
re-run
of
last
year’s
final
against
Australia
in
Sydney
on
October
22.

Seamer
Adam
Milne,
who
was
an
injury
replacement
for
Lockie
Ferguson
at
last
year’s
tournament
in
the
United
Arab
Emirates,
was
retained
in
the
absence
of
Kyle
Jamieson,
who
has
a
back
problem.

Hard-hitting
batsman
Allen
and
all-rounder
Bracewell
are
the
numeric
replacements
for
leg
spinner
Todd
Astle
and
wicketkeeper
Tim
Seifert,
who
both
missed
out.

Kiwis
coach
Gary
Stead
expressed
happiness
over
the
composition
of
the
team,
and
said
it
is
good
to
have
a
few
players
carrying
over
from
last
year’s
squad
as
it
will
ensure
a
good
level
of
performance.

“It’s
great
to
have
this
tournament
so
soon
after
last
year’s
event
in
which
we
played
some
really
good
cricket,
but
couldn’t
quite
get
over
the
line
at
the
end,”
said
coach
New
Zealand
Gary
Stead.

“With
the
nucleus
of
that
squad
retained
along
with
the
exciting
additions
of
Finn
and
Michael,
we
should
go
into
the
tournament
with
plenty
of
optimism,”
said
Stead.

New
Zealand
will
also
face
Afghanistan,
England
and
two
as
yet
undetermined
qualifiers
from
the
opening
stage
of
the
tournament
in
Group
1
of
the
Super
12.

New
Zealand
Squad
for
T20
World
Cup:
Kane
Williamson
(captain),
Finn
Allen,
Trent
Boult,
Michael
Bracewell,
Mark
Chapman,
Devon
Conway
(wicketkeeper),
Lockie
Ferguson,
Martin
Guptill,
Adam
Milne,
Daryl
Mitchell,
Jimmy
Neesham,
Glenn
Phillips,
Mitchell
Santner,
Ish
Sodhi,
Tim
Southee.