Veteran pace bowler Kyle Mills will captain the Black Caps on their tour of Sri Lanka following the return home of the injured batsman Kane Williamson.

Mills, 34, who has played 153 one-day internationals for New Zealand, will lead his country for the first time during the three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches starting on November 10.

Williamson had been earmarked as skipper for the tour, in the absence of Brendon McCullum and former captain Ross Taylor, but fractured his left thumb in New Zealand’s first ODI loss against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

McCullum and Taylor are returning to New Zealand at the end of the Bangladesh tour to prepare for the home Tests against the West Indies, starting on December 3.

Pace bowler Tim Southee is also returning after the Bangladesh leg of the Black Caps’ Asian tour, so he can prepare fully for the Tests after ankle surgery in July.

New Zealand Cricket selection head Bruce Edgar says Rob Nicol will replace Williamson in the squad, while his Canterbury teammate Andrew Ellis has been called up due to Ian Butler’s back injury.

“It’s disappointing that Ian’s back didn’t settle in time for the Sri Lanka tour,” Edgar said.

“We’ll also bring in Otago’s Neil Broom for the final ODI and the two Twenty20s as additional cover.”

Nicol and Ellis will join the Black Caps next week after this weekend’s domestic Twenty20 opening round.

Wellington’s Luke Ronchi headed over this week, earlier than his scheduled arrival for the Sri Lankan leg, as cover for the injured Williamson.

New Zealand lost the second one-dayer in Bangladesh overnight, the 40-run defeat handing the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The final match is on Sunday at Fatullah.

New Zealand ODI and Twenty20 squad for Sri Lanka tour: Kyle Mills (captain), Corey Anderson, Neil Broom, Anton Devcich, Grant Elliott, Andrew Ellis, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Rob Nicol, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford.

NZN