Matt Henry took just 26 Tests to reach 100 wickets, making him the second-fastest New Zealander to achieve the massive feat, behind only Richard Hadlee as well. His 5/15 found a place in history as well which came against India in the ongoing first Test in Bengaluru.

“Well, I think we were going to bat first too, so probably a good toss to lose. It was quite nice when those clouds started coming in after the toss was done, but I think we were expecting it to be probably a flatter wicket, but there was plenty of assistance this morning, so it was great that we could make the most of it,” said Henry after the day’s play. “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.”

“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 shared.

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However, to build that pressure alongside Henry, it was the 6’6″ Will O’Rourke. Playing his first Test in India, O’Rourke bowled a stunning spell that earned him four wickets as well.

“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. 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.

“Yeah, obviously it’s a pretty special achievement to get a five-fer in India, they’re pretty tough to get. But I think more importantly we’ve put our team in a good position leading forward into the Test match. It has been a rain-affected already, and I think it’s important to have a day like today where we can hopefully keep applying pressure. Things happen fast in India, so we can’t be complacent at all, we’ve just got to keep mounting pressure,” Matt Henry concluded.