Mitchell Santner says New Zealand missed Matt Henry in Champions Trophy final but proud of group

Matt Henry had been desperate to play in the final of the Champions Trophy. He had taken five wickets in the previous match in Dubai, against India. He was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker. And even after he suffered the injury to the shoulder as he took the catch that removed Heinrich Klaasen in the semi-final against South Africa, he came back into the game and bowled two further overs, and fielded.

And yet, the injury kept him out of the final, against an opposition he has tended to dominate. In 11 ODIs against India, he has 21 wickets at an average of 21.00, with an economy rate of 4.48. India’s chase in Dubai suffered stutters through the middle, but they eventually got home with four wickets to spare, and an over in reserve.

Henry was missed, said captain Mitchell Santner. His replacement Nathan Smith only bowled two overs in the final. Henry went through a fitness test just before the game, and was visibly distraught as he was failing it.

“He was the leading wicket-taker going into this game, and he’s an outstanding bowler, as we’ve seen,” Santner said (Henry’s 10 wickets at an average of 16.70 still leads the Champions Trophy wickets chart, despite his missing the final). “He seems to be able to nip it on wickets that don’t look like they should nip, so I guess we missed that today. I feel for Matty. He’s a massive team man, and he looked pretty distraught.

“We just kind of said, like, let’s do it for him. To come this far and then be injured for the main event was pretty tough for him and I guess for us. He tried everything he could to be ready for this game, and unfortunately for us, he wasn’t quite there.”

There were other battles that New Zealand had had to fight through in the course of the tournament. Where India played all five matches in Dubai, New Zealand had to zip between Dubai and all three venues in Pakistan – the only team in the Champions Trophy to play at four venues.

Rachin Ravindra, the Player of the Tournament with 263 runs at an average of 65.75 and a strike rate of 106.47, plus three wickets, had also suffered a blow to his forehead attempting a catch in the outfield in the tri-series in Pakistan that preceded the Champions Trophy. Kyle Jamieson, meanwhile, was a late replacement for Lockie Ferguson, who was injured playing in the ILT20.

“It’s never going to go perfectly in these tournaments, I guess, with the quick turnaround of games like we had,” Santner said. “But I think what’s most pleasing is different guys got opportunities and stepped up as. I couldn’t be prouder of the group.

“There were guys coming in and out due to injury. And then the way Rachin came back straight away after his head knock and hit the ground running was great. And Kyle Jamieson flying over and coming straight into the team – I thought he bowled extremely well in the games he played.”

Although New Zealand made mistakes in the field as they attempted to defend a target of 253, it was the first innings that had been definitive, Santner said. New Zealand were 57 for no wicket after 7.4 overs, but then lost Will Young, Ravindra, and Kane Williamson in quick succession, to be 75 for 3 after 12.2 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy struck the first blow, before Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Ravindra and Williamson within his first seven deliveries.

“I think the way we went about it for the first eight overs or so was outstanding. And then it took some brilliance from the spinners to really peg us back and make it challenging through that middle phase. After the start, we were probably thinking of a score around 275 or 280.

“Credit has to go to Kuldeep for the way he bowled straight after the powerplay, and Varun inside the powerplay.”

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