Santner proud of his side’s effort despite’s Matt Henry’s absence which was dearly felt while defending 251.
Santner proud of his side as they just fell short of an accomplished India in the Champions Trophy Final.
Part of it was down to the fact that the Kiwis missed the opening burst of their pace talisman Matt Henry.
Matt Henry has been itching to participate in the Champions Trophy final. In the last game against India in Dubai, he had claimed five wickets. He took the most wickets in the competition. Additionally, he returned to bowl two more overs and field despite suffering a shoulder injury when making the catch that eliminated Heinrich Klaasen in the semi-final match against South Africa.
Mitchell Santner, the captain, said he missed Henry. In the final, Nathan Smith, his replacement, bowled just two overs. Just before the game, Henry took a fitness test and was very upset when he failed.
“He was the leading wicket-taker going into this game, and he’s an outstanding bowler, as we’ve seen,” Santner said. Henry’s ten wickets at an average of 16.70 still leads the Champions Trophy wickets chart, despite his missing the final. “He seems to be able to nip it on wickets that don’t look like they should nip, so I guess we missed that today. I feel for Matty. He’s a massive team man, and he looked pretty distraught.
“We just kind of said, like, let’s do it for him. To come this far and then be injured for the main event was pretty tough for him and I guess for us. He tried everything he could to be ready for this game, and unfortunately for us, he wasn’t quite there.”
“It’s never going to go perfectly in these tournaments, I guess, with the quick turnaround of games like we had,” Santner said. “But I think what’s most pleasing is different guys got opportunities and stepped up as. I couldn’t be prouder of the group.
“There were guys coming in and out due to injury. And then the way Rachin came back straightaway after his head knock and hit the ground running was great. And Kyle Jamieson flying over and coming straight into the team – I thought he bowled extremely well in the games he played.”