WELLINGTON: Tim Southee was named on Friday to captain New Zealand in next week’s one-off Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka.

Regular skipper Kane Williamson is to be rested along with Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme.

Southee, who has captained New Zealand twice before, admitted that leading a side in cricket’s shortest form can be a bit of a gamble.

“It’s about trying to stay a step ahead of the game and a little bit of guessing,” he said. “The way T20 cricket goes it’s [about] trying to take a bit of a punt on what you think is going to happen.”

All-rounder Jimmy Neesham and opener Martin Guptill, who starred when New Zealand won the first ODI on Thursday, are also in the Twenty20 squad.

Squad: Tim Southee (captain), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2019