Henry lands the early blows versus India, once again

India would have been wary of Mitchell Santner slowing down their scoring. Well, he did.

- Rasesh Mandani

DUBAI: They would have been mindful of the tall Will O'Rourke foxing a few of their batters with clever deliveries in between his short-pitch barrage. He did employ the tactic, but with limited returns. As it turned out, their 33-year-old understated pace workhorse Matt Henry inflicted the most painful blows on India in their final Champions Trophy Group A game here on Sunday.

Henry's breakthroughs with the new ball, the most telling contribution in his spell of 8-0-42-5, was what kept India's total in check, restricting it to 249/9 on a slow pitch.

Come to think of it, no New Zealand resource should come as a surprise. Certainly not Henry. India would remember the Canterbury pacer from six months ago when he led the charge to bundle them out for 46 in the Bengaluru Test. That was on a pitch with a tinge of green. For Henry's pitch-perfect good lengths, those were tailor-made conditions.