Glenn Phillips itching to impress for Black Caps vs Afghanistan at T20 World Cup
Saturday, 8 June 2024
T20 World Cup: New Zealand vs Afghanistan. Where: Providence, Guyana. When: 11:30am Saturday (NZ time). Coverage: Live on Sky Sport 1, updates at Stuff Sport.
Glenn Phillips might be ready to combust.
The Black Caps will be aiming to harness all of the explosive allrounder’s energy, frustration and talent when they finally start their Twenty20 World Cup campaign on Saturday (NZ time).
New Zealand will meet Afghanistan in Guyana in a night match in Group C, where a win would put the previous tournament’s semifinalists well on the way to qualifying for the Super Eight stage.
Phillips will go into the encounter without playing a competitive cricket match since early March. The 27-year-old headed to India after New Zealand’s two-test series against Australia but wasn’t selected once for his Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise during the Indian Premier League season.
The hard-hitting, hyperactive Black Cap will be itching to prove his worth at the tournament, will have a vital role to fill, and has plenty of experience and success playing in the Caribbean Premier League.
Phillips is likely to bat at No.4 or No.5 - which could mean his job will be to maintain a high strike-rate during the middle overs against Afghanistan’s impressive spin attack, to blast boundaries at the death, or to man a rescue mission should early wickets fall.
He had a strong finish to the home international summer in the format, making 70 not out (from 52 balls) and 26 (22) against Pakistan, and 19no (10), 42 (35) and 40no (24) versus Australia.
In 74 T20Is, Phillips averages 33.03 with a strike rate of 143.29. He hasn’t bowled in his last 16 outings, but has shown in tests and ODIs that his off-spin bowling has greatly improved, and offers coach Gary Stead and captain Kane Williamson the option to include more specialist bowlers in their XI.
His skills will make it hard for Stead to find a place in the XI for Rachin Ravindra, who played a starring role at the ODI World Cup last year with three centuries batting at the top of the order.
Finn Allen and Devon Conway are set to open the batting, while skipper Kane Williamson will be at No.3 as Daryl Mitchell fills the middle-order batting with Phillips.
Ravindra could challenge Jimmy Neesham and Michael Bracewell for a spot at No.7, but with fellow left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and legspinner Ish Sodhi in the bowling arsenal, there may not be a desire for another player turning the ball away from the right-handed batters.
“Rachin's been fantastic in the way that he's burst onto the scene and he's certainly made every post a winner in the way that he's played,” Stead said on Tuesday.
“I think all 15 players here could say that they could or should start in the starting lineup. It's not that I look and say there's any real weak link at all within our team
“For us, it'll just be working out the spin and batting options and where people fit and what we think is right.
Phillips isn’t the only Black Cap batter short of matches - Allen has been recovering from a back injury, Conway from a broken thumb and Williamson only played two IPL games this season.
Afghanistan began their competition with a comprehensive 125-run victory over Uganda at the same venue in Providence under lights, based on an opening partnership worth 154 in 14.3 overs from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (76 from 45 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (70 from 46).
Left-arm paceman Fazalhaq Farooqi took 5-9 with the ball from his four overs, but legspin wizard Rashid Khan may be the biggest threat to New Zealand.
The Black Caps have made a commendable habit of not losing to sides ranked below them at World Cups, and will want that to continue with co-hosts the West Indies their next-up opponents.
Possible Black Caps XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.