New Zealand’s fast bowler Matt Henry said they wanted to be relentless on the second day of the first Test match against India at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Thursday. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma misread the conditions and decided to bat first on a cloudy morning.
The pitch had a lot of assistance for the seamers and the Kiwis pacers were able to make the most of it. Tim Southee provided the first breakthrough when Rohit Sharma decided to break free and go for a big shot but could not make any connection.
From there on, India’s batting order crumbled like a pack of cards. Matt Henry returned with impressive figures of 5-15 to complete 100 wickets in Test cricket as India was bundled out for 46, their lowest-ever Test score in home conditions and their lowest overall in Test cricket.
Henry was right on the money from the get-go and troubled Rohit Sharma in his opening spell, with a close LBW shout not going his way. He accounted for Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav in his fine spell.
Only two Indian batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant – could reach double digits whereas five batsmen were dismissed without troubling the scorers.
“We talked about being relentless with the ball, and being patient, and I think that was probably something that we looked to do, and thankfully it came off,” he said about the bowling approach in India.
“When you come here, you’re watching how the best in the world operate, and usually discipline is second to none. The accuracy, they’re just relentless. It may not happen in the first spell or the second spell, but they keep coming back, and the same as India have done it for a number of years. And watching how they go about their work here, they bring the stumps in play, and they’re able to make themselves a threat throughout, whether it’s a flat wicket or not. So coming here, that was something we discussed, was making sure that we are relentless and try to apply as much pressure as long as we can,” he further explained.
Rookie pacer William O’Rourke also delivered for the Kiwis, registering figures of 4-22. Henry lauded the youngster and said his height is his X-factor as he gets a lot of extra bounce.
“I think his height’s the X factor right there, isn’t it? He gets a lot of bounce and he uses that height at the crease as well, so as you see, he gets a lot of steep bounce off quite a full length as well, making it really uncomfortable, especially with the ball coming into the right-hander,” felt Henry about his partner-in-crime.
“I think something that is great about him is that he keeps his pace up as well, he keeps coming in for the team, and he’s done that for Canterbury, and there’s no surprise that he’ll do the same when he came up to New Zealand. He’s just had a fantastic start, and I’m absolutely stoked for him,” he said.
New Zealand ended the second day’s play at 180-3 with a lead of 134 runs.
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