Jayawardene, who arrives in the country tomorrow, is the only change for the Stags, replacing of Hawke's Bay opening batsman Indika Senarathne for the match Saxton Oval in Nelson on Thursday.

Jayawardene is joining the Stags for the last month of the competition, having just played in the Cricket All Stars T20 series in the United States.

The 38-year-old right-hander retired from international cricket after this year's World Cup, scoring more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and one-day internationals.

He has since appeared for Jamaica in the Caribbean Premier League and for Sussex in the English T20 Blast.

Central Stags:

Kruger Van Wyk (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene (Overseas Player), Will Young (Vice-Captain), Marty Kain, Tom Bruce, Andrew Mathieson, Josh Clarkson, Adam Milne, Mitchell Claydon (Overseas Player), Seth Rance, Dane Cleaver, George Worker

-3News