New Zealand international Henry Nicholls has joined the Sydney Thunder replacing Jacques Kallis, who has been ruled out of Saturday’s game with a groin injury.



The left-hand batsman scored an unbeaten 42 for the Canterbury Kings against the Thunder during their pre-season tour of New Zealand.



“It was a cool game to be involved in, it was a great day and good to play agains a strong Thunder side.” Nicholls said.



Nicholls made his ODI debut for New Zealand on Boxing Day, playing five games in their victorious series against Sri Lanka.



“It’s all happened very quickly,” Nicholls said.



“It was awesome to play in series against Sri Lanka, especially to play as much as I did.



“The Big Bash is very popular back home and its very exciting to now be involved in a very big game for a team who have a chance to qualify for the finals.”



Sydney Thunder captain Michael Hussey played against Nicholls before making a one-off appearance for the Canterbury Kings where he played along side him, and is well aware of his emerging talent.



“He’s an exciting player, who is playing extremely well.” Hussey said.



“He’s just working his way into the New Zealand set-up and is a player of high quality and we are very fortunate to have him.”



After losing Kallis to injury and Usman Khawaja to the Australian ODI squad, Hussey was keen to secure a top order batsman.



“We threw around a number of ideas,” Hussey said.



“Losing both our opening batsman created a hole at the top of the order. Even though we’ve lost Kallis we feel we have the cover with the ball, but were keen to shore up the batting.”



Nicholls will miss Canterbury’s One-Day fixture against the Central Stags, with General Manager Nick Cummins quick to praise Sydney Thunder’s strong relationship with Canterbury Cricket.

.

“We are very grateful that Canterbury coach Gary Stead released Henry during their Limited Overs competition," said Sydney Thunder General Manager Nick Cummins.



"Every coach wants to win every game, so to allow one of their star players to miss a domestic game speaks volumes for the relationship we have built with Canterbury.”



Sydney Thunder face their cross-town rivals the Sydney Sixers as they look to secure a spot in the finals of the KFC T20 Big Bash League at the SCG on Saturday 15 December.