‘All credit must go to him’ – Matt Henry opens up about ‘secret man’ who saved his day in second Test against England

Matt Henry. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

In the second Test against England at Basin Reserve at Wellington, New Zealand seamer Matt Henry felt like the match was over for him after his back seized on the final day of the thrilling clash. Chasing a series-levelling win, the Kiwi bowling attack lacked depth and quality as players like Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson were already missing and thus, the team couldn’t afford Henry to leave the field.

Thankfully for him and for the Tim Southee-led squad, Henry was back fine after their short-term physio, Theo Kapakoulakis, who was filling in for Brett Harrop weaved his magic to bring him back on the field. The 31-year-old returned to action after lunch and picked up the wicket of Stuart Broad as the Kiwis went on to win the match.

Now talking about the entire incident, the pacer revealed that he was worried after the injury but the physio worked brilliantly to recover him on time.

“Yeah I was a little bit worried. Thankfully we managed to keep standing up and get out there for that next [session] and we got through it. It was fine and it ended up being a pretty exciting test match to be a part of. [Kapakoulakis was the] secret man, the physio. Yeah, all credit has to go to him,” said Henry as quoted by the stuff.co.nz.

Notably in the match, the Kiwi bowlers were sensational in the second innings to help New Zealand win the epic thriller. Veteran pacer Tim Southee picked up four wickets while Neil Wagner picked up three as the team won the match by just one run. For England, former skipper Joe Root played some sensational cricket while Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes tried to rescue the Three Lions but couldn’t do so.

Meanwhile, New Zealand are now all set to host Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series, starting March 9. Following that, they will also play a three-match ODI and T20I series.