4th ODI: Strong wind helped keep things simple, says Henry after career-best six-for

Mount Maunganui, Nov 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) Matt Henry said the strong wind at the Bay Oval took swing out of the equation and let him concentrate on attacking the stumps, as his career-best 6-27 took New Zealand to a 244-run victory over India in the fourth ODI on Friday.

The Player of the Match did the damage in the very first over of the chase, removing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer without conceding a run. India never recovered and were bowled out for 89.

“Well, especially with the way the wind was going, I wasn’t too worried about the swing. So from ball one it was just about trying to have the strengths and bring the stumps in play, really.

“We knew that there was a small window there with the new ball that you could put the batters under pressure. So just trying to be as simple as possible, obviously, and when it moves sharply like that in the first over, when people are facing first ball, it’s pretty tough,” said Henry in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Reflecting on the triple-wicket maiden, Henry said a straightforward plan and some good fortune had worked in his favour. “Yeah, it’s quite funny, isn’t it? The wind was so strong and it was keeping things pretty simple, and it’s funny when you’re actually trying to have a simple game plan. A bit of luck as well. One shot a little bit low there too, so maybe the wind pushed me a bit sideways.”

The match was Henry’s return to ODI cricket after he missed the earlier games of the series because of a concussion with Devon Conway ahead of the ongoing series. “Great to be back. Obviously it’s been a funny odd year. So, good to be back here with some one-day cricket.”

“It wasn’t ideal, colliding heads with Dev (Devon Conway). I think I take a bit of responsibility on that one too. So, not ideal, but it just pushed things back a little bit. But thankfully we’re doing alright now.”

Henry said careful management of his recovery had been vital, with a long home summer ahead. “Yeah, I think that was the key part. Obviously once you have a head knock like that, you just got to be really careful and it pushed things back a bit. But this is really key for moving forward to what is a huge summer for us.”

With India leading 2-1 going into Sunday’s decider, Henry played down his success against them. “Oh, I don’t want to get too carried away. No, they’re a world-class outfit, and I think that’s the message that we were saying right through. They can bat deep, and yeah, look, it’s one game and we’ve got another one coming up soon that hopefully we can level the series.”

Henry is now set to join the Test squad ahead of the two-match series against India starting on November 19. “Yeah, join in with the Test squad. We’ve got a bit of a training camp, just get the red ball in hand and then just get ready for next week,” he concluded.

Source: IANS