Ellis to replace injured Brownlie for Twenty20s

Canterbury allrounder Andrew Ellis, who made his international debut in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, will replace the injured Dean Brownlie in the New Zealand Twenty20 squad to face Zimbabwe. Brownlie fractured a finger while fielding in the second one-dayer in Whangarei. He will miss both the ODI and Twenty20 series against South Africa after a hand specialist confirmed he was likely to be out for a month.

Ellis made a vital 33 in New Zealand's win in the first ODI, and followed it up with a wicket as Zimbabwe failed to chase 249. New Zealand then took an unassailable lead in the series after winning the second match comfortably, following up on their triumph in the one-off Test.

John Wright, the New Zealand coach said: "We would like to give Andrew the opportunity to show us his hitting power as he has not had the chance to spend a lot of time at the crease in this series."

The two Twenty20s against Zimbabwe will be played on February 11 in Auckland, and on February 14 in Hamilton.