New Zealand turned a possible disaster into delight as they recorded their second win of the T20 World Cup, thrashing Sri Lanka by 65 runs in Sydney on Saturday.
Glenn Phillips turned hero for the Black Caps, who had a disastrous start to their innings, and later Trent Boult and Tim Southee destroyed the Lankans with the ball to send their team clear at the top of Group 1.
The South Africa-born Phillips resurrected New Zealand’s innings from 15/3 in the fourth over and departed for 104 with his team closing on their ultimate tally of 167/7.
With Daryl Mitchell (22), Phillips steadied the New Zealand ship with an 84-run stand for the fourth wicket, but the wicketkeeper-batsman was also helped by some poor fielding from Sri Lanka.
Phillips got reprieves when on 12 and 45 and ensured he made the most of those lives by hitting 10 boundaries and four sixes.
Then Boult (4/13), who recorded his best-ever T20 figures on the day, inflicted an even worse start on the Lankans, reducing them to 8/4 in the fourth over of the chase. The 2014 champions never recovered from that blow and were all out for 102 in the 20th over.
Sri Lanka will now need a remarkable run of results, both in their remaining two matches as well as favourable outcomes from other games, to make the sem-finals as one of the top two teams from Group 1.
Being positive
Phillips revealed that staying positive in crisis helped him and his team in Saturday’s match.
After collecting his Man of the Match award, Phillips said: “Daryl and I were really clear we wanted to be as positive as possible and try and make the right positive choice. On a pitch like that it was a little difficult to hit the slower ball, so it was just about getting through and trying to get to a competitive total.
“I couldn’t put away the slower ones, but managed to execute my skills against the pacers.”
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was lavish in his praise for Phillips. “Incredible, any hundred is amazing, but the way he worked hard and put pressure on the opposition after our poor start...,” he said.
