Taylor again left out of New Zealand Twenty20 squad

New Zealand senior batsman Ross Taylor has again been kept out of the New Zealand Twenty20 squad named on Sunday to play South Africa.

New Zealand Cricket announced its Twenty20 and one-day international squads, with Corey Anderson and Tom Bruce preferred over Taylor to prop up the middle order in the game's shortest form.

Taylor is the third-highest run scorer for New Zealand in Twenty20 cricket but has not been required since the World T20 11 months ago.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi retained his place in the ODI squad along with Mitchell Santner, while Jimmy Neesham took over the number six spot. New Zealand play South Africa in a one-off Twenty20 in Auckland on Friday and a five-match ODI series is beginning on February 19.