Matt Henry says there is a good buzz around the Kent dressing room after their win at Durham in the Specsavers County Championship Division 2.

The New Zealand overseas player starred for Kent taking career-best match figures of 12-73.

They went on to beat Durham by nine wickets after just five sessions of play.

Henry said: “It was brilliant to get the rewards like that but as a team we bowled really well and went out there with a simple game plan and executed it really well.

“We knew it was a big session on Saturday morning and I felt we went out there and executed it well.

“Everyone has a real spring in their step at the moment. There’s a good buzz around the room at the start of the season and it’s good to get outside and get the season underway.”

The 26-year-old took 5-28 in the first innings before taking a career-best 7-45 in the second, which included getting rising South African star batsman Aiden Markram out for a duck in both innings.

At one stage Durham were 39-7 in their second innings after a blistering first hour of bowling from Kent on day two.

Henry said: “It was a bit crazy really. We didn’t expect it to unfold like that. We all expected it to be a tough day as there wasn’t a massive amount of assistance from swing but we knew the ball would stay nice and low so we bowled full and straight. We got the rewards we were after.

“In the early season you know there is going to be a bit of movement and that’s where our bowling attack has done well. We’ve known we had to pitch the ball up and just make sure we were patient.”

Listen to our Kent Cricket Podcast reflecting on the Durham game below:

Henry has now taken 19 wickets in his first two games for Kent at an average of 7.52.

For the fast bowler it is all about the team effort and getting the first win for the club of the season.

He said: “It’s always nice to get the rewards like that but to just get the win is brilliant after the first game as we weren’t far off.

“We knew we were about 50 runs short to make a good go of it. To come up here and make a good show of it was outstanding.

“It was a shame what happened in the first innings of the last game but to come back here and the way we played and batted at the end of the day to chase down the runs was awesome.”