Kevin Pietersen is set to make a surprise return to England duty in the second of next week's two Twenty20 matches against New Zealand at the Oval.

As a result, he will miss out on an Ageas Bowl return in next Wednesday's opening t20 Cup tie of the 2013 summer between Hampshire and current club Surrey.

Pietersen, who has been out of cricket with a knee injury since March, is first expected to make his comeback for Surrey against Yorkshire at Headingley in an LV= County Championship match which starts tomorrow.

But the England and Wales Cricket Board also announced this morning that the mercurial batsman is part of a 14-man squad to face the Kiwis under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan.

England's regular Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad is, as expected, rested from the short series - along with the majority of the likely first-choice squad for this summer's Ashes, which begins on July 10.

It was anticipated Pietersen would have just two matches, Surrey's LV= County Championship fixture in Leeds and then England's four-day Ashes warm-up at Essex starting a week on Sunday, to prove his fitness in time to face Australia.

But England have chosen to also schedule the second match against New Zealand, next Thursday, as an extra opportunity to assess their most talented batsman's well-being.

Pietersen will join two as yet uncapped players - Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance and Morgan's fellow Irishman, Warwickshire pace bowler Boyd Rankin - in the reckoning to face the Kiwis.

Hampshire spinner Danny Briggs is also included in the 14-man squad, ruling him out of the county's opening t20 encounter too.

Morgan has previously led England's Twenty20 team, in Broad's absence when the seamer was injured for two matches against India shortly before last Christmas.

National selector Geoff Miller, said: "We have selected a squad with plenty of Twenty20 experience, as well as young players new to the international game.

"With an intense period of cricket coming up, we are conscious that we need to manage the workloads of our players throughout the summer - and this NatWest series gives an opportunity for players who have performed well in domestic cricket and on the England performance programme and with the Lions to step up and test themselves in an international environment.

"New Zealand are a talented limited-overs side - and with a World Twenty20 competition less than a year away, this series gives us a chance to look at a number of different options."

England Twenty20 squad, against New Zealand at The Oval on June 25 and 27: EJG Morgan (Captain), GS Ballance, RS Bopara, DR Briggs JC Buttler (wkt), JW Dernbach, AD Hales, MJ Lumb, *KP Pietersen, WB Rankin, BA Stokes, JC Tredwell, CR Woakes, LJ Wright. * Pietersen will be available for match on June 27 only.