Superb ton by East London-born Phillips breaks World Cup mould
East London-born New Zealand star Glenn Phillips became the second player to pass three figures at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Saturday.
The middle-order batsman smashed 104, by a distance, the top score in the match, to help New Zealand to a crunching win over Sri Lanka in Sydney.
Phillips’s century was the second of the tournament, after Rilee Rossouw’s 109 against Bangladesh, and the Kiwi man’s ton came off just 64 deliveries. It was the 25-year-old’s second hundred in T20 internationals, but he said this was the most special innings of his short-form career so far.
“I think it’s probably going to be at the top,” Phillips, who left SA when he was five years old, said after his matchwinning effort.
“I do have one other 100, and that was pretty special as well, but to be able to do it on a World Cup stage just adds a little bit more juice to it, which is kind of cool.
“To be able to have a World Cup win in front of a sticky situation is actually the most satisfying part.
“The boys all did their roles. Everyone came together.
“It’s not necessarily about one specific performance.
“It was actually an overall team effort.”
Phillips’ innings was both special and unusual. He reached the boundary 14 times in the knock, with 10 fours and a quartet of maximums.
But 40 of his runs came running between the wickets — far in excess of the average in the format.
In contrast, only 20 runs in Phillips’ previous T20I century — 108 (51) against West Indies in 2020 — came from non-boundary runs.
It was a striking and unusual occurrence, brought about partly by the long boundaries, slow outfields and a tricky surface.
“For us, it wasn’t necessarily about hitting boundaries and forcing sixes because the pitch might not have necessarily required it,” Phillips said.
“For us, it was the intent running between the wickets. We wanted to show we had a bit of a presence, especially with Sri Lanka on top at that stage.”
New Zealand were three down inside the power play after Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Kane Williamson were all sent back cheaply.
But Phillips and Daryl Mitchell worked well together, putting 84 runs together in the next 10.5 overs.
“The way Daryl’s mind works, he doesn’t think anything is out of reach,” Phillips enthused about his batting partner in the game-changing partnership.
“That guy is unbelievable. He believes he’s born for situations that require tough decisions and tough processes.
“To have him out there with me in the middle was ... you know, it’s pretty hard to describe when you’re batting with someone like him. ”—