NEWSEx-South Africa Under-19 captain Chad Bowes and all-rounder Rachin Ravindra will make their One-Day International (ODI) debuts for New Zealand against Sri Lanka when the three-match series starts Saturday (March 25).
Bowes is set to open the batting for the Blackcaps at Auckland's Eden Park more than a decade after skippering South Africa's juniors at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup before moving to New Zealand.
Ravindra has already played three Tests and six T20 Internationals (T20I) for New Zealand.
"Both guys have earned their spots through performances in the domestic white-ball arena, so we're really excited about the opportunity," said New Zealand captain Tom Latham.
After whitewashing Sri Lanka 2-0 in the Tests, New Zealand have released several stars including Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Devon Conway to their Indian Premier League (IPL) teams.
The sides are looking to break their ODI losing streaks -- New Zealand and Sri Lanka both lost all three ODIs on separate tours of India in January. Sri Lanka head into the New Zealand series needing to win all three matches to claim a direct spot at the ODI World Cup in India later this year. New Zealand have already qualified.
Sri Lanka have included experienced former Test captain Angelo Mathews in their white-ball squad. Captain Dasun Shanaka is confident that Sri Lanka can win in Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton over the next week to avoid having to play in an ODI World Cup qualifying tournament.
"It's possible. It depends on the day. New Zealand is a good side and we aren't taking anything for granted. We need to do the hard work to win the series," the all-rounder added.
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