Matt Henry walks off Hagley Oval to applause after his seven-wicket bag. Photo / Photosport
Matt Henry walks off Hagley Oval to applause after his seven-wicket bag. Photo / Photosport
No Williamson, no Taylor, no Boult, no problem.
A breakout display from Matt Henry has put the Black Caps in a dominant position in the first test against South Africa, with Henry's sensational 7-23 slaying South Africa for 95 on day one at Hagley Oval.
At stumps, New Zealand were already in the lead at 116-3, with Henry Nicholls – dropped on five and 23 – unbeaten on 37 and nightwatchman Neil Wagner – also dropped - two not out. Despite being troubled, and losing openers Will Young and Tom Latham cheaply, a 75-run stand between Nicholls and Devon Conway (36) showed how runs could be accumulated on a pitch that Henry made to look unplayable.
Marco Jansen and his fellow South African fielders dropped several chances. Photo / Photosport
Playing his 15th test, which have been scattered over seven years and included an eight-month break before today, Henry showed why the New Zealand selectors kept coming back to the well of a seamer with a test bowling average of 46.2.
This time last year, it looked as if Henry's test career was on the ropes. He had played four tests in the previous four years, and his returns – six wickets at 72.5 – were bleak.
But still, even as he was passed in the pecking order by Kyle Jamieson, the Black Caps persisted with Henry in their squads, and after impressing when taking six wickets against England at Edgbaston last June, he was presented with another opportunity to take the new ball at Hagley, with Trent Boult unavailable.
This time, he made it count.
"When you play odd games here and there it's not always going to go in your favour, but it's nice to get a bag like that, it felt really good," Henry said.
"When you wake up and see the overheads and day one at Hagley, you've got your fingers crossed for a bowl, so when we won the toss – finally – it was a great chance to have a bowl here.
"A great start to the test match – a great feeling to be able to do that at home, at Hagley in front of family and friends."
He couldn't have picked a much better time to record his career-best figures either, as the Black Caps try to break a historic hoodoo in their first test series since 2008 – 117 tests ago – that features neither Kane Williamson nor Ross Taylor.
South Africa have never lost a test series to New Zealand, and in 45 tests have only been beaten by New Zealand four times. Despite their side lacking the big names of past tours, they came into this series off the back of a 2-1 victory over India, and theoretically have a team that should be suited to the pace and bounce on offer in Christchurch.
Yet, four balls into his return, Henry had the wicket of captain Dean Elgar, caught well by Tim Southee at third slip, and from there it was a fast bowling masterclass.
The bounce on offer was causing the batsmen problems, and Henry was the man best suited to exploit it, jumping above 135km/h and providing an intriguing point of difference to the fast-medium offerings of the rest of the Kiwi attack.
Matt Henry of New Zealand celebrates after dismissing Zubayr Hamza of South Africa. Photo / Getty
The bounce, pace and a bit of away movement saw Henry remove Aiden Markram, and Rassie van der Dussen was squared up and got the same treatment as Elgar, the ball flying into the sticky hands of Southee.
In between, Jamieson removed debutant Sarel Erwee, and when Southee dismissed Temba Bavuma in the first over after lunch, South Africa were 52-5.
A 33-run partnership between Zubayr Hamza (25 off 74 balls) and Kyle Verreynne (18 off 52) was the best resistance mustered, but from 85-5 the visitors tumbled, losing their last five wickets for 10 runs, four of them at the hands of Henry, and three of them in one destructive over.
His last wicket was the most unplayable of the lot, with Glenn Stuurman walking off on debut with a golden duck as Henry squared him up and brushed his thumb on the way through. Wagner denied him an eighth scalp, taking the final wicket to complete the rout in 49.2 overs, but that just led to some neat symmetry.
Exactly 46 years to the day when Richard Hadlee took 7-23 against India, Henry finished with the same figures against South Africa, tying the great bowler for the third-best test figures of all time by a New Zealander.
And, as Henry walked off to the applause of his teammates, Hadlee was in the crowd, applauding too.
