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Welsh Fire have reserved New Zealand pacer Matt Henry’s services for The Hundred 2025 season. The Kiwi stalwart will replace England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who was expected to spearhead Welsh’s fast-bowling unit. Woakes picked up a shoulder injury while fielding in the final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, played at The Oval. The 36-year-old is expected to be out of action for at least eight weeks which means the veteran won’t be able to show up for Welsh.
Henry will now handle the responsibility as in-charge of the pace attack. He was part of Welsh in the 2023 and 2024 seasons as well. The 33-year-old has played eight contests in The Hundred, in which he has grabbed 11 wickets at a frugal economy of 6.49. Henry was also a part of Somerset in T20 Blast. The New Zealand quick bagged 16 wickets in the series after his 10 outings. Henry is currently delivering his services to his national side who are clashing against Zimbabwe in the Test match, getting played at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Riding on his five-wicket haul, the Black Caps bundled out the hosts on 125 and are in a dominating position in the game.
Welsh Fire start their The Hundred 2025 campaign with a loss vs Northern Superchargers
Welsh kicked off their The Hundred 2025 journey with a huge eight-wicket defeat against Northern Superchargers in Leeds. Except for veterans Steven Smith (29 off 18) and Jonny Bairstow (42 runs from 23 balls), all other Fire batters put up ordinary shows. Defending 143, their bowling unit also looked disastrous.
Fire will next square off against London Spirit in Cardiff. Like Welsh, London also lost their opening match against Oval Invincibles. Both teams will look to be at their best to extract victory in the upcoming contest.
