Neesham called up for Twenty20

Jimmy Neesham, the Otago allrounder, has been called into New Zealand's squad for the first Twenty20 against England after injuries picked up by pace bowler Ian Butler and allrounder Grant Elliott ruled them out of the Auckland match.

Butler suffered an ankle injury playing for the New Zealand XI against England in the warm-up matches and Elliott has a quad strain although it is hoped both will recover in time for the second match of the series in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Neesham, 22, has played three Twenty20s, all against South Africa in the series late last year, and also featured in the ODIs on the same tour which New Zealand won 2-1.

Elliott made his international comeback in that one-day series after a gap of more than two years while Butler has not played since 2010.