New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips has rescued the Black Caps after an early collapse in opposition to Sri Lanka threatened to derail their T20 World Cup marketing campaign on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old turned simply the second New Zealander to attain a Males’s T20 World Cup century, smacking 104 (64) to steer the Kiwis in the direction of a decent whole of seven/167 on the SCG.
After their earlier match in opposition to Afghanistan was deserted because of climate, the Black Caps wanted three consecutive Tremendous 12 wins to safe their spot within the semi-finals.
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However the New Zealanders had been in bother early after shedding three wickets within the Powerplay, with openers Devon Conway and Finn Allen each dismissed by Sri Lankan spinners for 1.
New Zealand was immediately reeling at 3/15 when captain Kane Williamson edged behind for 8, feathering a Kasun Rajitha supply by means of to the wicketkeeper.
Daryl Mitchell, who missed final week’s match in opposition to Australia because of harm, mixed with Phillips for an important 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket to resurrect the New Zealand innings, patiently batting out the center overs.
Phillips was gifted an additional life on 12, with Pathum Nissanka dropping a regulation likelihood at long-off within the seventh over. And it proved expensive, with the fortuitous Kiwi citing his second T20I century lower than an hour later.
He introduced up the milestone with a robust pull shot, leaping within the air earlier than saluting the 15,121 spectators and roaring with delight.
The precise-hander wanted 61 deliveries to succeed in triple figures, changing into the primary participant batting at No. 4 or decrease to attain a Males’s T20 World Cup century.
New Zealand scored 91 runs from the ultimate seven overs, 63 of which got here off Phillips’ bat.
He successfully rotated his grip barely when on the assault, angling the bat face in the direction of the sky to extend his probabilities of launching the ball into the group, which he did 4 instances.
Phillips was ultimately dismissed by Sri Lankan seamer Lahiru Kumara within the ultimate over, chipping a catch to the long-off boundary rider. None of his teammates scored greater than 22.
He had already cemented his place within the T20 World Cup highlights reel with a spectacular outfield catch in opposition to Australia final weekend.
The Sri Lankan run chase began horrifically, with veteran seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee taking 4 wickets within the Powerplay to depart the reigning Asia Cup champions in dire straits at 4/8.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa stemmed the circulate of wickets with an entertaining 34 (22) and skipper Dasun Shanak scored a affected person 35 (32) earlier than New Zealand’s spinners set about cleansing up the tail within the center overs.
Sri Lanka was ultimately rolled for 102, falling 65 runs in need of the goal. Boult completed with career-best figures of 4/13 from 4 overs, whereas tweakers Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi claimed two scalps.
New Zealand will subsequent face England in a must-win conflict on the Gabba on Tuesday night, with the primary ball scheduled for 7pm AEDT.
