There was a quiet confidence in Matt Henry’s voice in Thiruvananthapuram — the sort that comes from hard-earned experience rather than bravado. At 34, Henry has stepped up as New Zealand’s senior pace leader in a post–Southee/Boult era, and his message was simple: in T20 cricket, you can’t change what’s already happened, so you must stick to your plans and keep turning up.

That mindset has been tested on a brutal India tour. India’s white-ball batting has been unrelenting — 209 chased in 15.2 overs at Raipur, 154 knocked off in 10 overs in Guwahati — and New Zealand’s young attack has often been left scrambling. Yet while the scorelines told a story of domination, the subtler narrative has been growth under pressure.

Matt Henry’s calmness after the fourth T20I — in which Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell’s contributions helped New Zealand reach 215, and he then dismissed Abhishek Sharma with a first-ball duck — underlined that experience and composure can still turn the tide.

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“You can’t change what’s already happened,” Matt Henry said candidly when asked how bowlers should respond to batters of Abhishek and Suryakumar Yadav’s calibre. “It’s about staying true to what you’re trying to achieve out there, whether you adapt your plans or stick with them because you trust that’s the best way to take wickets. The way T20 is going, it’s all about taking wickets — that’s the best way to stop the flow of runs.”

That discipline has become New Zealand’s lesson. Forced to lead a pace unit missing the full fitness of Lockie Ferguson and James Neesham, Henry marshalled resources such as Ben Foulkes and Jacob Duffy and leaned on spin options Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi — even when those seasoned campaigners were occasionally taken to the cleaners.

The point, Matt Henry argued, is learning fast. “If you keep turning up and keep learning, that’s where you put your energy,” he said. New Zealand’s victory in Vizag — defending 215 in dewy evening conditions — was a practical example of those lessons paying off.

Bowling second in subcontinental dew is historically unforgiving, yet early breakthroughs and disciplined death bowling allowed the visitors to control proceedings. The win wasn’t merely about outplaying India on the day; it was about extracting small, repeatable positives from challenging circumstances.

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Matt Henry was clear the tour is preparation for bigger tests ahead: the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. “It’s never nice being under that kind of pressure, but we knew the long-term picture was preparing for a World Cup,” he said. The experiences — being hammered, regrouping, and then delivering under duress — are the kind that harden a squad.

As the series heads to Thiruvananthapuram for the final game, New Zealand will be buoyed by the return to fitness of Ferguson and Neesham, both present at training. Whether they feature on Saturday or are managed into peak condition for the World Cup, their availability gives Henry more tactical options. For now, the real takeaway is cultural: this New Zealand group is learning to absorb pressure, identify tiny margins, and build confidence from the hard yards — the kind of growth that often separates good sides from great tournament teams.