New Zealand pacer Matt Henry who claimed a five-wicket haul said that India had the 'luxury' of familarity with the conditions in Dubai which helped them win by 44 runs. The Kiwi side was stuck in the spin-quartet's web as they failed to chase down a target of 250 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 2. Henry lauded the four spinners for getting the better of The BlackCaps batting lineup.
"I think, obviously, the way to have four frontline spinners was a really effective way to play. I think having that luxury of knowing (conditions)…they played to the conditions beautifully. That was probably the challenge for us," Henry said in the post-match press conference.
"We knew that they were going to play the four spinners. They bowled beautifully. They read the situation and the conditions well. Yeah, unfortunately, we couldn't get across the line."
Henry was in awe of India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy who bagged a fifer on his Champions Trophy debut.
"He (Chakravarthy) bowled beautifully, didn't he? I think he showed his skill, the way he turned the ball both ways, he could bowl pace. They were able to put us under pressure right throughout," Henry said.
"He extracted turn and pace and he just, to be on a match winning performance like that, to be able to create pressure and I suppose that's what they did in tandem."
Henry happy with fast-bowling attack's performance
New Zealand were able to make early inroads after Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to field first. Henry dismissed Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli with the new ball whereas Kyle Jamieson got the wicket of Rohit Sharma. He is looking forward to the semifinal clash against South Africa at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
"I think the key is adapting. It's something we talk about as a fast-bowling group — reading conditions and trying to get the opposition to take tough options (to score) and we managed to do that even in the power play here," he said.
"I think if we can keep doing that, we can take wickets. If you can take wickets throughout, especially throughout that middle, it makes a massive difference at the back end.
"Moving forward, we'll take our learning from here and we'll apply them back in Lahore (vs SA)."
Henry is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with eight wickets at ana verage of 15.50.
