Matt Henry paused for a moment right after taking his first wicket against India in Bengaluru. As his team-mates rushed to congratulate Devon Conway for taking a one-handed screamer at mid-off to dismiss Sarfaraz Khan, Henry looked down, hands on his knees, and laughed. His luckless morning had ended.
Before that wicket, Henry had bowled 23 balls, off which he induced 14 false shots from India's batters and beat them five times. He had an extremely close lbw appeal turned down against Rohit Sharma, who survived the review because of the umpire's call.
At the other end, he had watched Tim Southee bowl Rohit between bat and pad with a wobble-seam delivery and William O'Rourke strike with his sixth ball on Indian soil. So when the ball nestled in Conway's outstretched right hand, it was a well-deserved reward for a bowler who had conceded only six runs in 4.3 overs before then.
While Henry has impressed in different conditions, he is most effective when it's gloomy overhead and the ball nips around. Overcast skies. India. Henry. Remember Manchester 2019?
But unlike the limited-overs formats, Henry doesn't play much Test cricket for New Zealand. This is only his 26th appearance since his debut in 2015. He hasn't played a Test since the second week of March this year, but he showed no signs of rust in Bengaluru.
His first delivery was on a good length outside off and beat Rohit's uncertain poke. A few balls later Henry squared him up, and then was visibly frustrated at the lbw appeal not going his way in the fourth over. He beat Yashasvi Jaiswal frequently too, with movement away from the left-hander. And even though he didn't get either opener, Henry was eventually rewarded five times over.
Henry is New Zealand's leading wicket-taker this year: 28 at an average of 14.46 in nine innings. Trent Boult giving up his central contract has given Henry more chances recently and 2024 is his best year in Test cricket by a distance, even though he missed New Zealand's previous series in Sri Lanka because they played only two specialist quicks - Southee and O'Rourke.
It took Henry 24 balls to strike in Bengaluru, and he returned later to ensure there was no lower-middle-order revival from India that has been the bane of so many visiting teams in recent years. Extra bounce had Ravindra Jadeja lobbing a leading edge to point last ball before lunch. R Ashwin nicked one that nipped away to gully first ball after lunch. Three balls later Rishabh Pant edged one that moved away from him to slip. Seam, swing, and control at a brisk pace - Henry's bread and butter - sent India crashing towards their lowest total at home in Test cricket.
"The conditions this morning, we talked about being relentless with the ball, and being patient, and I think that was probably something that we looked to do, and thankfully it came off," Henry said after the second day's play.
He and O'Rourke were level on four wickets each with India nine down, and it was Henry who finished with a five-for to complete 100 wickets in Test cricket - joint-second fastest to the milestone for New Zealand.
"It's a pretty special achievement to get a five-for in India, they're pretty tough to get, but I think more importantly we've put our team in a good position leading into the Test match," Henry said after finishing with figures of 13.2-3-15-5.
As Henry led New Zealand off the field, with the ball held high, he was followed by his Canterbury team-mate O'Rourke, whose 4 for 22 included the wickets of Virat Kohli, Jaiswal, and KL Rahul. At 6'4", 23-year-old O'Rourke has had a rousing start to his career: 23 wickets in eight innings with two five-fors and two four-wicket hauls. On Thursday, he rattled India with his ability to extract extra bounce from the Bengaluru pitch.
"His height's the X-factor right there, isn't it?" Henry said. "He gets a lot of bounce, he's very tall and he uses that height at the crease as well, so as you see, he gets a lot of steep bounce off quite a full length as well, making it really uncomfortable, especially with the ball coming into the right-handers.
"I think something that is great about William O'Rourke is that he keeps his pace up as well, he keeps coming in for the team, and he's done that for Canterbury, and there's no surprise that he'll do the same when he came up to New Zealand, and he's just had a fantastic start, and I'm absolutely stoked for him."
By the time the play ended, with India dismantled for 46 and New Zealand 134 ahead with seven wickets in hand, Henry's smile had grown into the broadest of beams, having played the starring role in one of their best days in recent memory.