Ahmedabad, March 8 (IANS) Veteran seamer Matt Henry said New Zealand still have belief in their batting strength despite India posting an imposing 255/5 in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup final. On a flat mixed soil pitch, Sanju Samson (89), Ishan Kishan (54), and Abhishek Sharma (52) carried India to a massive 255/5, the highest score in a T20 World Cup final.

“Obviously, that’s tough. Obviously, we would have liked to have kept them to probably under 240 there, but we’ve still got the firepower and the belief in this shed. So I think for us, the way we start, hopefully we can get a good read of the wicket and put them under some pressure,” said Henry in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters.

New Zealand’s plan of using slower balls proved to be too costly as India’s top three batters picked them with ease and regularly dispatched them with authority over the boundary ropes. Henry explained that the bowling plan had been to take pace off early against India’s big-hitting batters.

“Obviously, with the way they like pace coming onto the ball. The plan was obviously to take a bit of pace away from them. Obviously, they combated that pretty well. Probably for us, it’s just a little disappointing, but the way we managed to squeeze it back from there in that middle phase, we gave ourselves a fighting chance there. At the end of the day, we’re not out of this. We believe in that,” he added.

Henry also felt that New Zealand’s batters could learn from India’s batting approach. “Well, I think if you look at the way they started, they actually got a read of the wicket. Then, from there, they actually looked to accelerate and put us under a lot of pressure. So obviously, it didn’t look like when you’re coming out from ball one, giving yourself a couple of balls. But for us, it’s frustrating one, but I think we still back our boys to get this done.”

–IANS

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