New Zealand vs India: Kane Williamson to miss 3rd T20I at Napier; Southee to lead Kiwis

“Blackcaps
captain
Kane
Williamson
will
miss
the
third
T20I
in
Napier
on
Tuesday
(November
22)
to
attend
a
pre-arranged
medical
appointment,”
said
a
statement
from
New
Zealand
Cricket
(NZC)
on
Monday
(November
21).

New
Zealand
coach
Gary
Stead
too
confirmed
this
development.
Williamson
had
made
a
labouring
62
off
51
balls
in
the
second
T20I
at
the
Bay
Oval
on
Sunday
(November
20).

Auckland
Aces
batsman
Mark
Chapman
will
join
the
T20I
squad
in
Napier
on
this
day.
Williamson
will
rejoin
the
team
on
Wednesday
(November
23)
when
the
ODI
squad
assembles
in
Auckland
ahead
of
the
series
opener
at
Eden
Park
on
Friday
(November
25).

Coach
Gary
Stead
said
the
medical
appointment
had
nothing
to
do
with
Williamson’s
historic
elbow
complaint.

“Kane
has
been
trying
to
get
this
booked
in
for
a
while
now,
but
unfortunately
it
has
not
been
able
to
fit
into
our
schedule,”
Stead
said.

“The
health
and
well-being
of
our
players
and
staff
is
paramount,
and
we
look
forward
to
seeing
him
in
Auckland,”
he
said.

Stead
said
Chapman
was
excited
to
be
back
with
the
squad
after
featuring
in
the
recent
T20
World
Cup
and
Tri-Series
in
Christchurch.

“He
is
a
quality
player
who
offers
good
versatility
in
the
order,”
he
said.

Stead
confirmed
Tim
Southee
would
captain
the
side
for
the
third
and
final
match
at
McLean
Park
on
Tuesday
night.

India
is
currently
leading
the
three-match
T20I
series
by
1-0.
After
the
first
match
was
abandoned
due
to
rain
without
a
ball
being
bowled,
India
defeated
the
Kiwis
by
65
runs
in
the
second
T20I.

Star
batter
Suryakumar
Yadav
(111
off
51
balls)
and
batting
allrounder
Deepak
Hooda
(4
wickets
for
10
runs)
were
the
stars
of
the
match.

Also,
Williamson
is
under
scrutiny
for
his
low
strike
rate
in
T20Is.
In
13
matches
this
year,
he
has
scored
443
runs
at
an
average
of
36.91
with
three
half-centuries.

However,
his
low
strike
rate
of
118.76
has
hurt
his
team
both
while
setting
up
a
target
or
chasing
it.