Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert called up to New Zealand T20I squad

Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert, both 23, have been named in New Zealand's 13-man squad for the remainder of the triangular Twenty20 International series being played in Australia and New Zealand.

After a disappointing batting performance in the opening game against Australia, where they scored 117/9 after being asked to bat and went down by seven wickets, New Zealand have drafted in the youngsters in place of Tom Bruce and Tom Blundell.

Chapman, a left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner who represented Hong Kong in two One-Day Internationals and 19 T20Is, including at the ICC World T20 2014 and 2016, now plays for Auckland in the New Zealand domestic circuit. His father is a New Zealand citizen, making Chapman eligible to play for the country.

The first Hong Kong player to score an ODI century, Chapman has been in blazing form in New Zealand's domestic T20 competition, scoring 307 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 171.5 and has since scored a half-century and a century in the ongoing 50-over competition.

Seifert, the Northern Districts man, was also in excellent batting form in the T20 competition, finishing as the third-highest run-scorer with 323 runs, at an average of 32.30 and a strike rate of 146.81.

“Mark has been very consistent over the past couple of seasons and has taken his game to another level in recent times,” said Gavin Larsen, the New Zealand chief selector. “His ability to hit the ball in all areas makes him a real threat and we’ve seen in the domestic competition some of the power he possesses.”

Larsen said that dropping Blundell was a difficult decision, while the inclusion of Seifert, who is likely to keep wickets against England in New Zealand’s next game, in Wellington on February 13, would bolster the batting.

“It’s hard on Tom Blundell, but with Tom Bruce not in the squad we wanted to inject some further power into that middle-order and Tim has shown he’s one the most dynamic in the country at that,” said Larsen. “We have some strong options with the gloves at the moment, but it’s about what best complements the rest of the squad and we think that’s Tim for this series.”

Squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Ben Wheeler, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Anaru Kitchen.