New Zealand were pleasantly surprised to find some help for their quicks in the pitch at Eden Gardens, fast bowler Matt Henry has said. Henry took three wickets on a day New Zealand kept India to 239 for 7. This could still be a big total given Indias spinners and the absence of Kane Williamson, but it was overall quite a satisfactory day for New Zealand considering they had lost the toss.It was a fair wicket, Henry said. Obviously, coming over here you probably dont expect conditions like that at the start of the day so we knew we had to make the most of that, especially being put in with the ball. It was always going to be tough work through that middle period when it would become a good surface. We had to find ways to put pressure on when we werent taking wickets and as a bowling group that is a box we ticked today.Before they put that pressure through dry bowling, though, New Zealand had to make sure they used the pitch that would have sweated in the preceding days because of the overcast skies and the covers on it. We knew it was important with the new ball to take advantage of it because the wicket had been under covers for a long time so that was going to be a crucial part of the game, Henry said. The way we went about our work today was outstanding. We knew we had to make sure we controlled the run rate because it is very tough in these conditions to take wickets.Moving forward from there it was just important to maintain those [bowling] partnerships through the middle and make sure we could create pressure by building dots. Our spinners were outstanding today. Jeets [Jeetan Patel] and Sat [Mitchell Santner] were fantastic in allowing us to build a lot of pressure, and that manifested to what happened at the end of the day.Patel was in England last week, not even dreaming of playing for New Zealand when an injury to Mark Craig resulted in a call-up. Henry, who hardly ever bowls badly, is not a regular in the New Zealand XI because of the surplus pace resources. He, too, was not part of the original squad, but came in only thanks to an injury to Tim Southee. For such players, keeping themselves fit and prepared is a big challenge, but New Zealand players have shown they are always prepared. I knew I had to make sure I did all my preparation, Henry said. Ive still being doing a lot of training and work behind the scenes. Even not being able to play in South Africa, I was still doing a lot of work with the coaches in the nets and making sure I was ready to go if needed. We had a few warm-up games out at Lincoln, some winter training squad one-dayers to keep the loads up.It is easier said than done, though, to retain the sunny attitude when you know your chances are not as frequent as you want them to be. Its never easy but it is one of those things that we have such a strong bowling group, Henry said. It is a good position for us to be in, you just always have to prepare to play and focus on what the team needs and what your role is going to be so if you do get called in you can do what we need to get done.Henry was full of praise for Patel too, who took the wickets of a set Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. It is a tough ask coming in from England and only having a couple of days to prepare, Henry said. Hes obviously got a lot of experience. He brought a lot of energy in the field and experience and confidence. I thought the way he played today was exceptional, the way both spinners played in tandem. They showed a lot of control and created pressure through those tough periods where it was really hot and important we could control that run rate because we had to keep that squeeze on.While Rahane felt this was a two-paced pitch and that 300 was a good score on it especially considering a Williamson-less New Zealand might have to bat last. Henry said his batsmen were capable of taking the game deep, just as the bowlers did. We have a great batting line-up and obviously it is a shame not to have Kane there but I know our batsmen will [apply themselves], he said. It is going to be a tough day with the heat and things like that. We just have to keep playing the long game and apply it as best we can. Swell Bottle Elements Collection . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Swell Water Bottle Floral . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. http://www.swellbottlesclearance.com/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Swell Spectrum Collection . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Swell Water Bottle Wholesale . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. NEW YORK -- Northwestern came into the Legends Classic off a last-second loss to Butler.It didnt seem to bother the Wildcats as they beat No. 22 Texas 77-58 on Monday night.Im really proud of my guys tonight. We had a very tough loss Wednesday in Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler, Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. Teams can go two separate ways after a loss like that. You can go on a little bit of a tailspin or you can rally together and come out fighting. There was never a doubt in my mind that our guys were going to keep fighting. We came in confident, yet very respectful of Texas. We knew it was going to take a great effort to beat a team like that. I thought a lot of guys played well.Bryant McIntosh had 20 points and five assists in the convincing win that propelled the Wildcats (3-1) into a championship showdown against Notre Dame, which beat Colorado 89-81, on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.McIntosh turned the ball over that led to Butlers buzzer-beater.I thought right after the Butler game, I knew we wouldnt go into a tailspin just because we didnt feel sorry for ourselves, McIntosh said. We were upset that we lost a game that we thought we could win. Thats a difference with this team than on the other teams Ive been on since being here. If we lost a close game, we felt sorry for ourselves where this team were hungry. We think were good and I thought tonight we played exceptionally well.Northwestern opened the game with an 11-0 run and closed the first half on a 9-0 spurt to take a 34-26 lead.The Wildcats opened the second half on a 10-1 run to go up by 17 points and the Longhorns (3-1) were never closer than 14 points the rest of the way.Scottie Lindsey had 16 points and Dererk Pardon had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern which took advantage of an out-of-synch Texas offense for the easy win.We came in to win, Collins said. We have the utmost respect for Texas, just like we did at Butler the other night. I just think theres a mindset with these guys. I think we believe were good. I believe we can play with these teams, not only play with them but beat them.Tavin Maack scored 18 points for the Longhorns, who finished with 14 turnovers and just seven assists.dddddddddddd Texas didnt help itself at the free throw line going 13 for 27.I thought Northwestern did a great job of starting the game with aggressiveness and got off to that big lead, Texas coach Shaka Smart said. Our guys responded really well and battled back and took the lead but obviously from there, Northwestern was just a much better team tonight.Northwestern, which shot 48.2 percent (27 for 56), led by as many as 20 points as nine of the 10 players who saw time scored.Texas, which came into the game averaging 82 points per game, shot 37.3 percent (19 for 51) and were outrebounded 40-31.I was a little bit concerned this morning because sometimes you can feel when guys get in the bright lights, you can tell theyre playing a little bit away from what really goes into it, Smart said. Its natural. I think we were a step off with a lot of things we know how to do.BIG PICTURE:Texas: The Longhorns allowed opponents to shoot 21.8 percent from 3-point range in their first three games. Northwestern was 10 of 24 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc. ... Six Texas players were averaging double figures entering the game and only Mack reached that against the Wildcats.Northwestern: Vic Law came into the game shooting 76.8 percent (11 of 14) from 3-point range including eight in a row at one stretch. He went 1 for 2 Monday. ... Law was the Wildcats leading scorer at 20.3 points per game. He had just nine against Texas.BIRTHDAY WISH:McIntosh celebrated his birthday Sunday by heading to the famed Rucker Park with his godfather to shoot baskets.RARE MEETING:Northwestern leads the all-time series 2-1. The last time the teams met was in 1974, a 63-59 Texas victory. The first meeting was a 73-71 Northwestern victory in 1965.UP NEXT:Texas: will play Colorado for third place in the Legends Classic.Northwestern: will play Notre Dame in the championship game of the Legends Classic. ' ' '