Auckland, Mar 12: After winning the Player of the Series award at his home ground despite losing the series against Australia, New Zealand seamer Matt Henry said it is always nice to play at his hometown of Christchurch, where the wicket has seam and bounce.In the two-match series, Henry snapped 17 wickets at an average of 15.71 with the best figures being 7/67. He was the leading wicket-taker in the series. Even as New Zealand lost the series, Henry said the team had one of best bowling attacks.
“Yeah, obviously, it’s disappointing, but at the same time, we showed a lot of fight. The way they played was to get the runs ticking over, we were always looking for wickets, the attitude we showed to try and crack open the game was unbelievable,” Henry said in the post-match presentation.
“It’s always nice to be playing cricket at home (in Christchurch), there’s a bit of bounce and seam movement available on this pitch. It’s great to be part of one of New Zealand’s best bowling attacks. Tim (Southee) is one of the best and it was great to share the new ball with him. It always feels nice to be contributing with the bat, we pride ourselves on chipping in with the bat,” the right-arm seamer added.
Coming to the second Test against New Zealand, outstanding batting performances from batters Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh helped Australia in clean-sweeping the two-match Test series at Hagley Oval on Monday.
Chasing 279 runs for victory, Australia were 80/5 but the lower middle order fought back remarkably.
Wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey (98* in 123 balls, with 15 fours), Mitchell Marsh (80 in 102 balls, with 15 fours and a six) and Cummins (32* in 44 balls, with four boundaries) sealed a three-wicket win for Australia and a series win of 2-0.
Ben Sears (4/90) and Henry (2/94) were the top bowlers for the Blackcaps.
Carey became the ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock and 10 dismissals behind the stumps.