Superb and unusual Glenn Phillips century breaks the T20 mould
The middle-order batter 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’ century is the second of the tournament, following Rilee Rossouw’s 109 against Bangladesh, and the Kiwi man’s ton came off just 64 deliveries.
It is the 25-year-old’s second hundred in T20Is, but he says this is the most special innings of his short-form career so far.
“I think it's probably going to be at the top,” Phillips told the world’s media after his match-winning 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.”
Match highlights of Glenn Phillips' century and Trent Boult's four-for that helped New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 65 runs in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 clash.
Phillips innings was both special and unusual. He reached the boundary 14 times in the knock, with ten 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 explained.
“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.”
Glenn Phillips smashes 64-ball 104 to help New Zealand post a good total against Sri Lanka in their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 clash.
New Zealand were three down inside the Powerplay 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.”
Phillips’ century also saw him commentate and talk through much of his knock in occasionally hilarious fashion, comments that were intentionally picked up on the stump mic.
And the Kiwi says that it is always his intention to give the fans some joy.
“At the end of the day, it is an entertainment product,” he said. “I do know there's stump mics there. At the end of the day, for me it's about having as much fun as possible and showing the sort of emotion that I'm feeling at the time. Sometimes it's for good, and sometimes it's for bad. Hopefully more good than bad.
“I guess for me it's about enjoying the game as much as possible, and if I'm letting out the emotion, especially when I'm enjoying it… it's such a failure sport. If there's things that we can enjoy in the little moments and the times that we're out there, we're in front of 15,000 people, we may as well enjoy it and have fun.”