
Henry leads New Zealand to narrow win over USA in World Cup warm-up
Matt Henry's five-for helped New Zealand edge to a seven-run victory over the United States in their final warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup.
The USA put up a strong fight in the chase, but in the end, they fell just short of their 209 target on Thursday.
Though New Zealand lost Devon Conway (16) in the powerplay, Tim Seifert's 66 kept them steadily ticking before he retired.
Glenn Phillips (40) and Daryl Mitchell (32) also added respectable totals to get them up to 208-7 before making an extremely strong start with the ball.
Henry (5-32) took Andries Gous for a duck off the first ball, with Shayan Jahangir (2) following not far behind.
However, Saiteja Mukkamalla's half-century gave the USA fresh hope as he put on a 59-run partnership with Monank Patel (31) for the third wicket.
Milind Kumas (43) and Shubman Ranjane (41) kept the push going, but in the end, Henry came to the fore, taking the wickets of both, and Mohammad Mohsin (2) in the final over to leave the USA on 201-8.
Elsewhere, Australia's final match ahead of the tournament against the Netherlands was abandoned without a ball bowled due to heavy rain in Colombo.
Warm up complete #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/FwnK6arTRE
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 5, 2026
Data Debrief: Henry holds his nerve
The USA needed 12 runs off the final over to clinch what would have been a surprise victory in Mumbai, but Henry popped up with a crucial late intervention.
He has now taken his first five-for in T20I cricket in a timely match, while Seifert got his 14th score of 50+ in the format.











