Henry, Ferguson to rebound?

‘‘Matt will have a very important role for us and his record speaks for itself. He knows he didn’t bowl well, more around the second and third spells. Black Caps bowling coach Shane Jurgensen

Matt Henry is too good an operator to be wounded by his Australian struggles, says New Zealand’s bowling coach who believes they redeemed themselves in Melbourne.

The Black Caps’ new ball spearhead conceded 165 runs off his 20 overs during Australia’s late batting assaults in Sydney and Canberra, on the way to a 3-0 Chappell-Hadlee Trophy sweep.

Now, as the players return to the domestic Twenty20 competition before the Bangladesh series opener on Boxing Day, Shane Jurgensen says his bowling group are back on track.

They conceded a combined 702 runs in games one and two before significant lifts in intensity, execution and field settings saw them restrict Australia to 264-8 in Melbourne led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee. It was a gettable total but a batting collapse to 147 ended a hugely disappointing week where they never fired in all three disciplines at once.

Henry was dropped for that third game and slipped from fifth to seventh in the world one-day international bowling rankings, but Jurgensen expected he would return to his rightful place with the new ball in the Bangladesh ODIs.

‘‘Matt will have a very important role for us and his record speaks for itself. He knows he didn’t bowl well, more around the second and third spells,’’ Jurgensen said.

‘‘He started well and beat the bat quite often and created opportunities, and the early wicket of [Aaron] Finch in the first game.

‘‘He’s got a unique ability to take wickets at any stage and he’s certainly an important bowler for us in the rest of the summer.’’

Jurgensen believed nerves were a factor for the bowlers and fielders in Sydney and Canberra, where they conceded 113 and 126 off the last 10 overs.

They finally made amends at the MCG with captain Kane Williamson employing quirky fields as the bowlers lifted and they kept all but David Warner in check.

‘‘We talk a lot about being unpredictable when the opposition is looking to smash you out of the park.

‘‘You can have all the plans you like but we’re not robots and sometimes, whether it’s nerves on the big occasion playing Australia, the ball doesn’t come out of the hand the way you want it.

‘‘That probably happened in the first two games and that last game was very good and put us in a position to chase down the target.

‘‘That metal shift certainly came from the skipper and coach. My role is to talk to the bowlers and support them in that direction. We’re a very good one-day team and we’re not going to do that three games in a row.’’

Even Warner had some luck on the way to a magnificent 156 off 128 balls. New Zealand created chances against him early in all three matches, and on 18 in Melbourne Lockie Ferguson lured Warner into the leg side trap and Henry Nicholls got his fingertips to a skied catch.

‘‘In most games we bowled really well to Warner at the start. He’s a very good player.

‘‘We certainly felt there was an issue around the hook shot, for example, and it didn’t quite come off which was frustrating.

‘‘What we picked up on with their batters once they got to 50 they were difficult to get out. They’re very determined to go on and get big scores.’’

That was a telling contrast to New Zealand’s, with only Martin Guptill blasting to three figures in Sydney.

Ferguson also impressed Jurgensen in his two appearances, despite issues with overstepping the front line and overall figures of 1-123 off 17 overs.

‘‘He’s exciting in terms of his pace and he’s very raw also. What’s encouraging is the point of difference he brings at 150kmh and consistently pushing 150. Talking to the Australian coaches after the third game they thought ‘wow, who’s this kid you’ve got, he’s pushing 150 and consistently bowling faster than Mitchell Starc’.

‘‘You also have to be accurate and confident to bowl his variations and bouncers and yorkers at his pace. He’s certainly got a role to play in the future.’’

Henry and Ferguson were excused Sunday’s domestic T20 game where Auckland beat Canterbury.

All 14 Black Caps in Australia will play one Super Smash game at least in the next 10 days before the ODI squad reassembles on December 23.