For Glenn Phillips, who has had a stop-start international career, smashing a 46-ball century – the fastest in T20Is by a New Zealand batsman – against West Indies was “absolutely massive”. No, it won’t make him believe his future with the national team is all sorted out, but “you don’t get those very often, so I am going to enjoy it”.
“That’s just an incredible day. You don’t get them very often… make the most of it,” Phillips said at a media interaction after New Zealand beat West Indies by 72 runs in the second T20I to go 2-0 up in the three-match series. “My whole thing is to try and be an entertainer for the crowd and, in that moment, having the crowd’s back, I wanted to give them something special, the whole team wanted to give them something special. It was amazing for me personally, (that) I could be part of it.”
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Phillips and Devon Conway got together at 53 for 2 in the seventh over, but they didn’t really pick up pace till the last ball of the tenth over, when Phillips smacked Kieron Pollard for six. Then came the drizzle, overs that netted them 18, 11 and 24 runs, and then a rain delay. The big hitting continued after that as the two put together a 184-run stand, Conway ending on 65* from 37 balls to Phillips’ 51-ball 108.
“Big part of our game plan is communication, reading the situation, adjusting to it. So, for me and Devon, we’ve never played with each other before, the communication side of things is even more crucial,” Phillips said. “We’ve both played a lot of T20 cricket, and when you lose two quick wickets, you don’t want to lose three or four. Especially on a ground like this where it’s hard to get going again, on a pitch that’s a little bit two-paced.
“So we decided to give ourselves a couple of overs and by the time we both got going, it was 11-12 overs, and we have a very deep batting line-up, so that death phase can start much earlier, especially with the wind being an absolute hurricane in one direction. So making the most of that side and hitting with the wind and basically getting the momentum going. And then even when the rain came, just carrying on from where we started.
“There’s guys that are established and still having to come back. And there’s players that are higher up in the rankings than myself. All I can do is, when I am given the opportunity, do the best that I can possibly for the team, because if the team’s winning, then everyone’s happy”
Glenn Phillips
“We’ve always been a team that’s big on our running between the wickets, especially on a big ground like this, which, I feel we adapted to very well after playing at Eden Park, which is so small, and twos are hard to come by. We said to each other ‘the moment we hit the ball, we’re going to run and look for two, no matter what’. He’s quick between the wickets, I am quick between the wickets, so we might as well use that asset especially when you’re not necessarily in the power-hitting mode.”
Phillips, 23, made his international debut in a T20I in February 2017, but has only played 13 matches in the format now (along with one Test).
“I had to go back, work on things, and took a step back to be able to move forward again. Then I had the opportunities in the Caribbean (Premier League), which slowly worked my confidence back and I was able to have a couple of good performances, being able to come out against these boys has had a massive part of play in that,” Phillips said. “And be able to produce the kind of freedom in my performance was the biggest thing for me – and, yeah, I was absolutely ecstatic. You don’t get those very often, and I was going to enjoy it.”
The stint with Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL – he top-scored for them with 316 runs at a strike rate of 127.41 from ten innings this season – have helped in a big way, Phillips said, especially learning to play smartly against spin: “The problem is not necessarily being able to find the boundary, the problem is finding the ones in between and not put myself under pressure.”
Phillips, however, isn’t looking too far ahead. “There’s guys that are established and still having to come back. And there’s players that are higher up in the rankings than myself. All I can do is, when I am given the opportunity, do the best that I can possibly for the team, because if the team’s winning, then everyone’s happy,” he said. “Whether I am playing here or I am playing for the Tallawahs, or the (Auckland) Aces or my club back home, just being able to play the role that I need to play for that team and take it one day at a time.”