Outstanding bowling effort: Matt Henry

Heaping praise on their “outstanding” bowling effort, New Zealand pacer Matt Henry on Friday said that the key was to arrest India’s run rate on day one of the second Test at the Eden Gardens.

“The way we went about our work today was outstanding. We knew we had to make sure we controlled the run-rate because it is very tough in these conditions to take wickets,” Henry, who was the top wicket-taker for the New Zealand with 3/35, said.

That the wicket was under cover for a long time gave New Zealand a slight advantage after India skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat upon winning the toss.

“We knew it was important with the new ball to take advantage of it because the wicket had been under covers for a long time. So that was going to be a crucial part of the game.

“Obviously coming over here you probably don’t expect conditions like that at the start of the day, so we knew we had to make the most of that, especially being put in with the ball. It was always going to be tough work through that middle period when it would become a good surface,” he explained.

“We had to find ways to put pressure on when we weren’t taking wickets and as a bowling group that is a box we ticked today.”