Matt Henry's three-ball demolition exposes India's batting frailties ahead of WC

Matt Henry

Three balls. That was all Matt Henry needed to turn India’s chase of 334 into a rout.Henry was only supposed to be passing through. Having missed most of the T20Is with a leg injury and the early ODIs amid concussion concerns after colliding with Devon Conway, the seamer stayed back at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui simply to prove his fitness and get some overs into his legs before the Tests.Instead, he produced one of the most devastating opening overs in ODI cricket, reducing India to 0/3 and setting up a 244-run thrashing — India’s second-biggest defeat by runs in the format. India collapsed for 89 and the contest was effectively sealed before the visitors had even troubled the scorers.Henry’s first ball landed on a good length on off, kicked, and seamed away just enough to square up Rohit Sharma and kiss the outside edge on its way to first slip. It was a jarring sight, painfully reminiscent of the twilight of Rohit’s Test career and an increasingly familiar one when he faces quality fast bowling in overseas conditions.Next up was Virat Kohli. Henry pitched fuller, drew him forward and beat the outside edge by inches. Three balls later, he wobbled the seam from an identical spot. This one nipped back in, stayed low and rattled Kohli’s stumps.Then came Shreyas Iyer, walking out for his captaincy debut and walking back with a golden duck — the first Indian skipper to suffer that fate. Trapped on the crease by one that darted past his inside edge, Iyer fell to a DRS review while Henry was already mid-celebration.

India’s first run came off the 17th delivery of the innings.For anyone watching, it was impossible not to be dragged back to Old Trafford in July 2019, when Henry’s 3/37 ripped the heart out of India’s World Cup semifinal chase. Seven years on, the scars remain wide open.With the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa looming, where conditions could offer similar bounce and seam movement, this rout should set off alarm bells.

A hint of lateral movement was all it took to expose India’s glaring technical chinks.To be fair, Henry was not operating in isolation. Kyle Jamieson used his height to extract extra bounce and movement, getting Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) to edge a feeble push outside off to second slip as India slipped to 9 for 4.Ishan Kishan (27 off 53) and Axar Patel (21 off 36) briefly resisted with a 44-run stand. Naman Dhir (21 off 24) muscled two sixes, but Matt Fisher (3 for 31) kept hitting hard lengths at high pace to snuff out any fight.

Henry then returned to clean up the tail, finishing with career-best ODI figures.If India’s batting was brittle, the thinking off the field was equally baffling. On a surface offering genuine seam and bounce, leaving

Mohammed Siraj

out of the XI again defied cricketing logic. Gautam Gambhir’s selection calls continue to puzzle, raising serious questions about the roadmap ahead.Cruelly for India, they had walked into the innings break believing they held the momentum.

After Tim Seifert (58 off 48) and Will Young forged an 85-run opening stand, Young took over and ensured there was no let-up.Dropped twice on 5 off Auqib Nabi in the second over of New Zealand’s innings, Young cashed in with a career-best 125 off 108 balls. Alongside Finn Allen (41 off 30), he took down Kuldeep Yadav (0 for 73 in 8 overs) in a 90-run fourth-wicket stand before Rohit redeemed an earlier dropped chance with a sharp diving catch at short cover.

Part-timer Naman Dhir then removed Young and took a diving catch to dismiss Michael Bracewell off Gurnoor Brar.

Axar (2 for 39) and Arshdeep Singh, who removed Mitchell Santner, helped India take 6 for 77 in the final 13.1 overs and bowl New Zealand out for 333.New Zealand, trailing 2-1, now head into Sunday’s final ODI without Henry and Jamieson, both bound for Test duty.