The powerful righthander left the field with his team closing on their final score of 167 for seven after helping New Zealand’s innings recover from three for 15 in the fourth over. He was departed for 104. The New Zealand bowlers grabbed control under the leadership of paceman Trent Boult (4-13), giving Sri Lanka an even worse start by dropping them to 8-4 in the fourth over and dismissing them for 102 in the 20th.
In the rain-interrupted Super 12 group, where England, Australia, and Ireland were tied for first place at the beginning of the evening, New Zealand surged two points ahead of their opponents and enhanced their already exceptional net run rate. “When it comes to cricket, I try to entertain as much as possible whether it’s for good or for bad…, thankfully, it was on the good end of things,” said Phillips.
“But the way the bowlers bowled, the catches that were taken, we were high energy, we were exceptional all round.” The recent champions of the Asia Cup got off to a strong start on a beautiful spring evening at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but Sri Lanka will now require an extraordinary run of wins to claim one of the top two slots and a spot in the semi-finals. In order to put New Zealand in big trouble, Maheesh Theekshana misled Finn Allen with a skidding ball, off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva tricked Devon Conway with flight, and Kane Williamson stole a Kasun Rajitha delivery.
Prior to the all-rounder being dismissed for 22 by de Silva, Phillips and Daryl Mitchell helped to steady the ship during an 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket. New Zealand’s projected score eased up from decent to acceptable as Phillips, who was dropped on 12 and 45, continued to thread his shots through the field for boundaries.
After South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw at the same venue on Thursday, the 25-year-old, who smashed four sixes, screamed with joy as he punched one of his ten fours past square leg to become the second player to reach a century in the tournament. Following Boult and Tim Southee knocked out Sri Lanka’s top order, the country was always going to suffer, and after Lockie Ferguson’s 34-yard catch of Bhanuka Rajapaksa by the third quick, the situation appeared hopeless.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka stood his ground with a defiant 35 but had little help from the tailenders and holed out to give Boult his fourth wicket. “We started well but there were a few dropped catches,” Shanaka said. “We’ve still got a chance of qualifying if we can somehow get a couple of wins.”
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