Phillips takes NZ to series victory; Pollard slams WI
MOUNT MAUNGANUI, NEW ZEALAND: West Indies captain Kieron Pollard accused his side of not performing to international standards on Sunday after New Zealand comprehensively won the second Twenty20 international by 72 runs on the back of a record century by Glenn Phillips.
New Zealand wrapped up the series at Mount Maunganui with a game to spare, after winning the opening match on Friday by five wickets, as Phillips provided a batting masterclass.
Called up to the Twenty20 side while regular skipper Kane Williamson focuses on the upcoming Tests, Phillips plundered eight sixes and 10 fours on his way to 108 as New Zealand posted a mammoth 238 for three and then restricted the West Indies to 166 for nine.
“You never know when the next opportunity is going to come and I came into this going ‘let’s go in as hard as I possibly can. I know I can do it’,” Phillips said.
The 23-year-old, who was born in South Africa but moved to New Zealand at the age of five, took just 46 deliveries to reach his century, the 10th fastest in Twenty20 internationals and one ball faster than the previous New Zealand record held by Colin Munro.
Phillips plays in the Caribbean in the New Zealand offseason and said familiarity with the West Indies attack was a big help.
“Definitely, that has a lot to do with how I performed out here. You go in with more confidence against guys that you’ve played well against before,” said Phillips, who also took two catches and ran out opener Andre Fletcher in a brilliant allround display.
‘It’s our mindset’
New Zealand stand-in skipper Tim Southee called Phillips’s performance “incredible”, adding that his two catches, one diving at full-stretch on the boundary, and the sharp run out showed “he’s got that X-factor about him”.
But while Phillips, along with Devon Conway who produced an unbeaten 85, put the game firmly in New Zealand’s hands, opposing captain Pollard was left fuming.
After winning the toss and sending New Zealand into bat under overcast skies, Pollard believed the West Indies were in control when the Black Caps reached the halfway mark at 84 for two. “But between overs 10 to 15 we sort of lost it there,” Pollard said.
“In terms of the energy and feel and erraticness in the field, that’s not the standard that we want to set for ourselves, and not the standard anyone wants to see in international cricket.
“I think it’s attitude and I think it’s our mindset.
“If we had stayed in the contest a bit longer, try to limit the damage to 200, 190 or so, we’d have been for the challenge but we were behind the eight ball after that 10th over and it just went pear-shaped from there.”
Phillips and Conway put on 184 for New Zealand’s third wicket while the best West Indies partnership was 34 between Pollard (28) and Shimron Hetmyer (25).
Brief scores: New Zealand 238/3 (Glenn Phillips 108, Devon Conway 65*, Oshane Thomas 1-44) beat West Indies 166/9 (Kieron Pollard 28, Shimron Hetmyer 25, Kyle Jamieson 2-15) by 72 runs.