To hear that roar was pretty special: Henry Shipley

Henry Shipley is relishing the opportunity to play in front of his home crowd and his family as the speedster dismantled the Sri Lankan batting unit in the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland. 

The 26-year-old scalped five wickets for 31 runs to bundle out Sri Lanka for 76 runs, their lowest ODI total against New Zealand in pursuit of 277 runs. 

We take a 1-0 series lead at Eden Park. A maiden international 5-wicket bag for Henry Shipley leading the team to victory. $1,279,514 has been raised so far for the @NZRedCross. We move to Christchurch for the 2nd ANZ Aotearoa ODI at Hagley Oval on Tuesday 📷 = @PhotosportNZ pic.twitter.com/MzZ5gsPSCr

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 25, 2023

After making his debut for the national side in an away series against India, Shipley credited the learnings in subcontinent conditions for his improved performance. 

"India's a tough place to go, and you don't win too many in the subcontinent, even though you try to win them all. I guess that confidence from the difficult conditions was something I could try and apply out here," Shipley said in the post-match press conference. 

"Being able to play in front of a home crowd and hear that roar when things are going our way is pretty special, and something that will stick with me for a long time. The noise in the crowd today and seeing the stump go flying was pretty cool," he further added. 

While the wickets in New Zealand assisting strokeplay and the shorter boundaries on offer making it tough for the bowlers, Shipley believed the pitch had something in it for the pacers to exploit. 

"The comms came back from the batters pretty early that perhaps it was going to be a little bit difficult to score. Sometimes when you see the short boundaries, you get lured into a big total."

"I think we did well to get through to where we did. With bowling, it was just about creating some pressure up top and doing our best to contain them," he concluded. 

With the series on the line, two sides will now lock horns in the second ODI on Tuesday, March 28, at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.