Friday 22 May 2015 12:24, UK
New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry made a big impact on his Test debut by taking three England wickets on the opening day of the first Investec Test at Lord’s.
The 23-year-old Canterbury quick finished with figures of 3-93 after dismissing England skipper Alastair Cook and key batsmen Ian Bell and Joe Root.
Henry opened his account when Cook (16) top-edged a short ball to wicketkeeper BJ Watling and he then produced another classic delivery to dismiss Ian Bell for one, a full-length ball pitching on off stump and holding its line.
That left England in deep trouble on 30-4, but the home side rallied to 354-7 at stumps thanks to Root, Ben Stokes (92), Jos Buttler, who was dismissed for 67 by Trent Boult from the last delivery of the day, and Moeen Ali (49no).
Root’s 161-ball innings was ended just two runs short of his century when he edged a Henry delivery to replacement wicketkeeper Tom Latham.
Henry told Sky Sports: “We started very well and put the ball where we would have liked, but England fought back really well.
“We’re a bit disappointed in ourselves. We showed some great periods but we let them off the hook with the odd bad ball. Overall we stayed there with Boulty getting that wicket in the end.
“We started getting both sides of the wicket and started to leak runs with the left, right-hand combination. Going in at lunch it was good to reflect and we needed to focus, because we were making it too easy for them at that point.
“The majority of the time we were getting the ball in the right area. But when you get it wrong and it goes for four it hurts you pretty bad.”
On his debut, Henry added: “It’s incredible, it’s fantastic to get involved with the group in the past couple of years. To make your Test debut at Lords is the icing on the cake.“
Latham was on the field in place of Watling, who suffered a knee injury and will be assessed in the morning to see if he can return on Friday.
