Matt Henry gets to 100 Test wickets with exquisite five-wicket haul in first Test vs India

A fifth five-wicket haul by New Zealand pacer, Matt Henry, along with a bubbly performance by William O’Rourke saw India get decimated for their lowest-ever Test total at home and their third-lowest in the format, a mere 46. Kuldeep Yadav was Henry's fifth with his 17-ball resistance ending after playing a back-of-a-length delivery away from the body with the ball going off the outside edge to the left of the gully. 

It was Henry's 26th game in which he brought up the 100-wicket milestone, which made him the joint-second fastest bowler from New Zealand to get to the milestone. Left-arm pacer, Neil Wagner, also brought up 100 dismissals in the same number of Tests, with the legendary Richard Hadlee topping the charts. Henry's figures which read 13.3-3-15-5 were the fourth-best by a Kiwi in India. Tim Southee leads the list with a seven-for (7/64) at the same venue in 2012.

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A fourth Test five-wicket bag for Matt Henry (5-15) and with his fifth brings up 100 Test wickets! India all-out for 46. Follow play LIVE in NZ on @skysportnz 📺 or SENZ_Radio 📻 LIVE scoring | https://t.co/uFGGD93qpi #INDvNZ #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/tgBkKriMbo

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 17, 2024

The right-arm pacer's first dismissal came courtesy of a blinder of a grab at wide mid-off to get rid of Sarfaraz Khan for a three-ball duck. The next couple of wickets for him in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin came on either side of Lunch. A wobble-seam delivery brought about the downfall of Rishabh Pant, India's highest-scorer in an innings which went catastrophically wrong.

Also Read: ‘Happy duck day’ - Netizens react as India register their lowest Test total at home

Openers provide New Zealand steady start 

After getting bowled out for 46, it was anticipated that India would land some early blows to dent the Black Caps. However, it was not to be as a rock-solid Tom Latham, coupled with a tempo-setting Devon Conway, started pretty well.

Also Read: IND vs NZ 2024: Virat Kohli becomes active cricketer with joint-most ducks

At the time of writing, the Kiwis are 67 for no loss with Conway bringing up his 10th half-century with a lovely strike down the ground off the bowling of Ashwin, who has not yet managed to assert himself in the game.