Across three continents and six countries, his performances over the last 10 months have been consistent
Matt Henry had gone unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction, but that seems like a massive missed opportunity for franchises looking at the New Zealand pacer’s blazing form across all formats.
His run began with the Test series against Australia at home where the speedster snared 17 wickets from just four innings which included a 7-67 at Christchurch. However, it was his scorching spell of 5-15 in Bengaluru against India and a series haul of 10 wickets from two Tests at an average of 15 that gave him the momentum going into the next few months.
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He continued it into the home series against England at the end of the year claiming 15 wickets from six innings at an average of 23. Then came the white-ball series against Sri Lanka where he was unplayable with both the new and old ball and finished the series with 14 wickets from six matches, helping New Zealand win the ODIs and T20Is with ease.
He continued in the same vein in the Champions Trophy co-hosted by Pakistan and Dubai, snaring 10 wickets from four games and finishing as the top wicket-taker of the tournament. It was unfortunate for New Zealand that they missed their prized pacer in the title clash to a shoulder injury.
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While that was his pre-IPL form, Henry’s performances only got better and better since returning from the injury. In the T20 Blast 2025, Henry is averaging a superb 17.56 and has an economy of 7 as he picked up 16 wickets from 10 matches for Somerset.
In the County Championship 2025, he has 14 wickets from four matches at an average of 31, which included two matches with dreaded Kookaburra ball in English conditions.
Henry is still looking unbeatable after nearly a year, spanning three continents and six countries.Recently, he defended a paltry seven runs from his final over in the Tri-Nation T20I series final against South Africa and finished as the top wicket-taker in the series with 10 wickets from four matches at an economy of 8.
In the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Henry claimed 6-39 to skittle out the home team for 149 in the first innings. His spell included scalps of the top three batters, the crucial wicket of Sikander Raza in the middle-order and two more tail-ender wickets.
This should surely get the IPL scouts from all franchises excited ahead of the IPL 2026 auction which is likely to see bidding battles for a select few players with Henry at the top of the pile.
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