New Zealand’s star pacer Matt Henry might not play the T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa, captain Mitchell Santner hinted. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the team’s knockout game against the undefeated South Africa, Santner revealed that the pacer had flown home to New Zealand for the birth of his child and is returning to India on Tuesday, March 3.
Henry has been in sensational touch with the ball in the tournament. In fact, he guided New Zealand to a huge win in their Super 8s game against Sri Lanka, where he picked up two wickets for just three runs. Henry bowled only two overs, delivering 10 dot balls and dismantling the Lankan top order.
The fast bowler played against England after that, where he registered figures of 1 for 19 in 2.3 overs.
Santner revealed on Tuesday that Henry’s participation in the semi-final will depend on how his body feels after the long flight from New Zealand.
“Matt is currently in the air, he’s landing tonight, so I guess we’ll see how he pulls up – it’s obviously quite far away, New Zealand from here. But he’ll obviously have a little run around in the morning, see if he’s ready to go. So yeah, hopefully he’s good to go,” Santner said.
New Zealand have played South Africa once in this tournament. In that match in Ahmedabad, Marco Jansen ran through the Kiwi top order. After Jansen’s bowling performance, Proteas captain Aiden Markram played a sensational knock of an unbeaten 86 runs to guide South Africa to a strong win.
The South Africa vs New Zealand semi-final will be played at Eden Gardens. The match will begin at 7 pm IST on March 4.
While New Zealand play South Africa, hosts India will play England at the Wankhede Stadium in Navi Mumbai on March 5.
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