Matt Henry Makes History with Remarkable Bowling Performance Against England

Historic Victory for New Zealand at The Oval

In a stunning display of skill, Matt Henry led New Zealand to a commanding 253-run win over England in the second Test of their three-match series at the renowned Oval Stadium in London. This victory allowed the New Zealand team, captained by Tom Latham, to equalize the series at 1-1 after their earlier defeat at Lord's. Henry's exceptional performance included taking 11 wickets throughout the match, with a five-wicket haul in the first innings, where he conceded 80 runs as England was bowled out for 291, giving New Zealand a crucial 100-run advantage. The 34-year-old bowler claimed the wickets of stand-in captain Joe Root, top-ranked batter Harry Brook, Jordon Cox, Jofra Archer, and Josh Tongue.

In the second innings, Henry continued his dominance, achieving remarkable figures of 6-29. He once again dismissed Root, Brook, Cox, Archer, and Tongue, along with Matthew Fisher.

Matt Henry's Historic Achievement

This outstanding performance has made Henry the first fast bowler in half a century to secure two five-wicket hauls at the Oval during a Test match, a feat previously accomplished by West Indies legend Michael Holding.

Among spinners, only Muttiah Muralitharan (1998) and Shane Warne (2005) have achieved this remarkable feat at the historic Test venue in England, following Holding's and Henry's accomplishments. Henry is the first visiting bowler to achieve this double at any English venue since Warne in 2005 at the Oval. The last non-English pace bowler to do so was Makhaya Ntini at Lord's in 2003. Furthermore, Henry is only the eighth visiting fast bowler and the first in the 21st century to take 11 or more wickets in a Test match on English soil, with the last being New Zealand's Dion Nash in 1994 at Lord's. Notably, all eight instances have occurred in London, either at Lord's or the Oval. Among spinners, both Muralitharan and Warne have accomplished this feat twice. Henry's figures of 11/109 also surpassed Nash's record (11/169) for the best bowling performance by a New Zealand pacer in England. Overall, Henry's performance ranks as the fifth-best by a visiting fast bowler in England.

Henry has also achieved the third-best bowling figures (second-best at the Oval) by a non-English pacer in the fourth innings on English soil, following Australia's Fred Spofforth (7/44 vs. England in 1882 at the Oval) and India's Ishant Sharma (7/74 vs. England at Lord's in 2014).