Indian opener Abhishek Sharma may be giving nightmares to bowlers around the world, but New Zealand pacer Matt Henry has a simple game plan to counter him by keeping the left-hander under constant pressure with relentless accuracy. Henry executed his plans perfectly in the fourth T20I at Visakhapatnam, dismissing Abhishek for a golden duck, an early breakthrough that played a key role in New Zealand’s comprehensive 50-run victory.
Despite the defeat in the fourth T20I, India had already sealed the series
by winning the first three matches. The Men in Blue remain one of the toughest teams to beat in the shortest format of the game and will head into the T20 World Cup 2026 as defending champions, determined to retain their title on the global stage.
"He's been playing brilliantly over the last two years and he's been taking to attacks, not just in international cricket but in IPL as well. I think for us it's just about how you're putting him under pressure," Henry told the media as quoted by NDTV Sports.
"It's challenging from a bowling point of view but the key thing is how do you come back when you have a mixed over, how do you have an impact on the game and not worry about those things? I think it all comes back down to accuracy. You have to be accurate at what you're doing and you're just trying to put your best foot forward," he added.
Henry hoped that the experience of playing in India would come in handy for New Zealand in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The 34-year-old has taken 43 wickets in 34 T20I matches at an average of 22.97 and an economy rate of 8.56. The right-arm pacer picked up three wickets in three appearances against India during the five-match T20I series.
"For me, T20 cricket is about confidence...how do you keep coming back and challenging batters when you're under pressure? How do you find a way to make it work? But if you keep turning up, you keep learning and I think that's probably a highlight of this series for us,” said Henry.
"It's never nice being put under that kind of pressure but we knew that the long-term picture was getting prepared for a World Cup and how do you put teams under pressure when they're flying like that. So, it was all positive gains from our point of view and we're just really pleased that the guys could still stay confident going into that last game. I think that is a true testament of character of the group," he added.
Since the retirements of Tim Southee and Trent Boult over the past two years, Henry has been leading New Zealand’s bowling attack across all three formats. It is a responsibility he carries with pride, while also being fully aware of the challenges that come with the role. Henry also emphasised that in modern-day T20 cricket, bowlers must constantly rely on variations to stay one step ahead of aggressive batters.
"I think it's obviously a big toll on the body. I think the scheduling of cricket is getting tighter and tighter as well so that presents different challenges. We've got some young guys getting some new experiences here and we've got other guys that have been here too. From my point of view, it's great having a well-balanced squad. In terms of us all three forms, it's great to be able to have so much depth," said Henry.
"How do you, I suppose, get the batters to make a mistake when things are probably in their favour? So you're just trying to, I suppose, whether you're playing on the crease, creating variations, changing your pace but as I said it's all about variations," he concluded.
