Matt Henry looms as pivotal figure

By Kris Shannon

As the Black Caps look to build a match-winning lead against Australia’s fearsome seamers, they know any advantage will be fiercely defended by a weapon of their own.

According to Kane Williamson, who knows a bit about repelling bowlers, Matt Henry has been as irrepressible as any of the touring attack during the second test at Hagley Oval.

The Cantabrian claimed his second test seven-wicket haul on day two, restricting Australia’s first-innings lead to 94. With Williamson hitting a half-century as the hosts went ahead by 40 runs at stumps, their remaining eight wickets will be spent extending that margin out of their opponents’ significant reach.

The protection of that eventual number would rest primarily with Henry, one member of the Black Caps’ four-prong pace group sharp enough to belong in Australia’s piercing attack.

Such a billing is borne out by the scorecards. Henry now has 15 wickets in the series, compared to the eight collected by the rest of the seamers employed by New Zealand.

And it’s reflected in the words of Williamson, dismissed by Pat Cummins — a bowler he called the best in the world — and sounding equally impressed by his long-time teammate.

“An outstanding performance,” the former skipper said of Henry. “His style of bowling on surfaces that offer a little bit makes life quite difficult. It moves late and, certainly, the Australian bowlers do it very well.

“He’s a real leader with the ball and had a couple of fantastic performances already in the series. If there’s something in the wicket, he’s certainly a guy who’s going to maximise that.

“He bowls such a great length and moves it both ways. Of a similar nature to the Aussie bowlers, in terms of their skillsets in moving the ball off the seam both ways.

“He got some great reward and been bowling beautifully, not just in test cricket but all formats. It’s great to see all the opportunities he’s getting and he’s certainly maximising those.”

The next chapter in the test will be about the hosts maximising the promising position established by Henry (7-67) and reinforced by Williamson (51) and Tom Latham (65no).

Once Henry wrapped up Australia’s innings for 256 after lunch, the senior pair put on 105 for the second wicket, their team’s best partnership in a difficult series for the batters.

“There was a little bit in the surface and both attacks were trying to make the most of that so runs were quite delicate,” Williamson said. “It was nice to pick up those wickets and put together a partnership to get us in the positive.

“[Latham] batted beautifully. It certainly wasn’t easy; they’re an outstanding attack and he fought really hard and managed to lead the way in the partnership. It was nice to be out there with him, and there’s a lot of hard work going into [Sunday].

“It’s about getting as many as we can. The game’s so far advanced already, so it’s about batting, it’s about applying our skills. Hopefully come our time to bowl, who knows, it still looks like there’s a little bit in there and there’s enough bounce in the surface.”

Enough, perhaps, for Henry to bowl New Zealand to a first home test victory over Australia in 30 years — providing the tourists’ quicks don’t first have a pivotal say.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission