A matter of swing and seam: Matt Henry continues tormenting Indians

Matt Henry’s one-day International series was in some doubt, a day before the first game in Auckland last Wednesday, following a collision during pre-match training with opening batter Devon Conway. The latter was ruled out of the entire series with concussion, but while Henry was cleared of the same condition, experts insisted that he not be rushed back into action for at least a week.

It was as if Henry had spent that time visualising the damage he would inflict on one of his favourite opponents. Brought back into the fray on Friday with a series win beyond New Zealand’s reach but an honourable draw very much on the cards, the senior paceman turned in a performance for the ages, blowing India way with his career-best ODI figures.

At 34, Henry is clearly the leader of the New Zealand pace pack. Having earned his apprenticeship under Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, he is now the battering ram around whom the bowling cog revolves. At first glance, there is nothing too threatening about the tall right-armer from Canterbury. He isn’t express by any stretch of the imagination, he doesn’t get the ball to whoop around corners. But Henry doesn’t need any of these weapons. Like the archetypal Kiwi, he is understated in his bowling too, doing just enough with the seam to catch the outside edge or beat the inside edge.

The art of taking wickets doesn’t necessarily call for grand deception. Sometimes, it is doing the most basic things on a consistent basis that helps one strike paydirt. No one exemplified it better than Henry, who made capital of the assistance on offer under lights at the Bay Oval to send India crashing to their second heaviest defeat by runs in all ODIs.

Henry has a history of gobbling up Indian wickets for fun. On his ODI debut in Wellington in January 2014, he knocked over Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to finish with four for 38 and bowl his side to a comfortable 87-run win. The Player of the Match honours went to Ross Taylor for his excellent 102, but in Mount Maunganui, Will Young’s chancy fifth ODI century paled into significance as Henry produced stunning figures of six for 27, the second time in as many innings that he had taken a five-for against India.

In his previous faceoff against the Indians nearly 20 months back in the Champions Trophy league encounter between the sides in Dubai, Henry had snaffled five for 42, but India did enough through their middle order – Shreyas Iyer (79), Axar Patel (42), KL Rahul (23) and Hardik Pandya (45) – to eke out a 44-run win. India breathed a huge sigh of relief when Henry was ruled out of the final a week later with a right shoulder injury, but on Friday, all escape routes were completely shut off as Henry unleashed unchecked mayhem to send the visitors crashing to 89 all out.

Right from the get-go

The carnage began with the very first delivery of India’s quest for 334 for a series-clinching victory. Rohit Sharma, who had dropped two straightforward catches, was opened up like a can of beans through an excellent delivery that straightened a tad on pitching, caught the shoulder of his bat and lobbed to Finn Allen at slip.

It was a fabulous beginning, but Henry was just getting started. Four deliveries later, he produced a screaming inducker that came back in a mile, stayed a fraction low, rushed through Virat Kohli’s gate and plucked out middle stump. Bay Oval lapsed into hushed silence as the predominantly Indian audience descended into shock.

Barely had Kohli taken off his pads than Shreyas, on his ODI captaincy debut, was dismissed first ball, trapped in front by another incutter that went past his inside edge and struck his back pad with the batter firmly rooted to the crease.

In the space of three deliveries, Henry had reduced India to nought for three. Great bowlers, they say, decide matches in no time. In the space of eight torturous minutes, Henry had swung this game New Zealand’s way decisively; having killed off this fourth ODI as a contest, he came back for a second spell and got rid of the feisty Ishan Kishan with his first delivery, again.

Kuldeep Yadav was wicket No. 5, playing inside the line as the ball breezed past his outside edge and tickled the off bail. Gurnoor Brar’s wicket to formalise the end of the match was the perfect finishing touch as Henry was mobbed by his teammates, delighted and relieved in equal parts that they were still in with a great shot at drawing the series.

Henry’s record against India in ODIs is second to none – 27 wickets in 12 innings at an excellent average of 17.33 and a strike-rate of 24 (balls per wicket). He loves the Indians in the cauldron of Test cricket too, having taken 16 wickets in four Tests spread over eight years. It will take a brave man to rule out more success for Henry over the next fortnight in Wellington and Christchurch as the sides renew red-ball hostilities.