Lockie Ferguson pace has Matt Henry purring after impressive New Zealand victory

• Henry and Ferguson took three wickets apiece in the ten-wicket win over Sri Lanka
• Pace bowling has played a major part in the opening stages of the tournament

Matt Henry bounced back from his warm-up woes with three wickets in New Zealand’s opening win over Sri Lanka.

But it was the raw speed of Lockie Ferguson that grabbed the headlines and his teammate Henry feels variety is the key to the Kiwi attack.

Henry came in for some treatment in their warm-up loss against the West Indies earlier this week but his nagging line and length with the new ball earned him figures of 3/29 in this ten-wicket win in Cardiff.

Meanwhile, Ferguson (3/22) played the role of the Black Caps enforcer, regularly breaking 90mph with a barrage of short stuff that the Sri Lankans found too much to handle.

The early stages of this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup have been a story of fast bowling, with England’s Jofra Archer and the West Indies both to the fore.

And Henry is delighted that Ferguson is doing the damage for the runners-up from four years ago.

“Lockie was fantastic, he has been bowling well with some good pace for the last couple of years now,” said Henry.

“It was great to have someone like him come in, and the way he bowled, he hit his length beautifully and deserved his wickets.

“Everyone stood up and took wickets in the whole bowling unit which made it hard for Sri Lanka to get settled.

“But it is brilliant to have someone who bowls with those kind of wheels in the team and obviously comes in and gives 100 (per cent) every time.

“He came out and bowled with good heat and was really accurate, with some good bumpers and was really accurate as well. That is why he picked up three big wickets for us.”

This was an impressive first win for the Black Caps, seeing off Sri Lanka with the minimum of fuss after bowling them out for 136.

Bangladesh are next up and while momentum is already building, Henry is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“We all knew that we could come out and start strong, and as a bowling group we knew we had to take wickets up front and we delivered that nicely,” he added.

“We don’t want to get too carried away, obviously that was just the first game of the tournament. But to start like that was exactly what we wanted to do.

“We wanted to come out and make sure we were putting them under pressure early on on that wicket.

“Thankfully we did that and then the way Colin (Munro) and Guppy (Martin Guptill) chased it down was brilliant.”

Tim Southee missed this first game with injury but is likely to be back in time for their second clash, and Henry knows that every man will have to play a role this summer.

“I think with the way this tournament is structured it is a 15-man squad, you have to use it throughout the tournament,” he added.

“I think we (the seamers) all offer slightly different skills as well, so to be a part of this bowling attack is a pretty cool thing.

“We will keep pushing ourselves forward and keep bowling to the conditions that we find.

“It is important to take wickets in these tournaments. This morning we were presented with a wicket that we knew we had to come out hot, and try and be as positive as possible.”