At a glance
They set the Caribbean Premier League alight, now Auckland Aces pair Glenn Phillips and Colin Munro will team up at the top for the Black Caps against Pakistan.
Phillips was confirmed yesterday as the replacement for injured opener Martin Guptill in the three-match Twenty20 series in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 1 (NZT).
Allrounder Corey Anderson is the other addition to the 13-man T20 squad and will play his first international in nearly 17 months, just over a year since he underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his back.
Phillips, 21, played eight T20 internationals for New Zealand but was dropped after the Pakistan series in January, having scored 97 runs at a strike rate of 109 in various batting positions.
Back in his preferred opening spot, Phillips starred for Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL. He was second-highest runscorer with 457 at a strike rate of 147, behind Munro (567 runs, strike rate 140) who led the way for the champion Trinbago Knight Riders.
Phillips continued his form in the UAE for New Zealand A, scoring 53 and 69 not out in their two victories which helped clinch a 2-1 T20 series victory over Pakistan A last week.
Anderson, 27, went under the knife in September last year, when 10cm of titanium cable and screws were inserted in his spine.
He made a measured return to the bowling crease and dominated with the bat for Somerset in the England T20 Blast, before being named to captain NZA in the UAE and announcing he would focus solely on white-ball cricket in his bid to make next year’s World Cup.
Anderson produced a handy all-round contribution in their defeat to Pakistan A in the first one-day match on Monday (NZT), scoring 38 and taking 2-34 to show his readiness for his first Black Caps appearance since the Champions Trophy in June last year.
Selector Gavin Larsen said despite Guptill being ruled out of the tour with a calf strain last week, he and coach Gary Stead named just two T20 replacements instead of the originally planned three. Larsen said they would name the final additions to the ODI squad after the three-match NZA series ends on Friday. New Zealand squads to face Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates:
❚ Test: Kane Williamson (captain), Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Ish Sodhi, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.
❚ ODI: Williamson (c), Colin Munro, Taylor, Nicholls, Latham, Watling, de Grandhomme, Astle, Sodhi, Southee, Henry, Boult, three to be added.
❚ Twenty20: Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Munro, Taylor, Mark Chapman, Corey Anderson, Tim Seifert, de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Southee, Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Seth Rance. Schedule (NZ times):
❚ T20s (all 5am): November 1, 3 and 5
❚ ODIs (all 1am): Nov 8, 10 and 12
❚ Tests (all 7pm): Nov 16-20, Nov 24-28, December 3-7