Phillips’ ton drives NZ to big win over Lanka

SYDNEY, October 29

Glenn Phillips scored a brilliant century to rescue New Zealand after a rocky start and fire them to an emphatic 65-run victory which sent the Black Caps clear at the top of Group 1 at the T20 World Cup. The muscular right-hander helped resurrect 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 paceman Trent Boult (4/13) to the fore, the New Zealand bowlers took over and gave Sri Lanka an even worse start, reducing the 2014 champions to 8/4 in the fourth over and dismissing them for 102 in the 20th.

Tied with England, Australia and Ireland at the top of the rain-disrupted Super 12 group at the start of the evening, New Zealand moved two points clear of their rivals and improved their already impressive 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.”

Sri Lanka will now need a remarkable run of results to grab one of the top two spots and a place in the semifinals but a balmy spring evening started well for the recent Asia Cup winners. “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.”

Brief scores: New Zealand 167/7 (Phillips 104; Rajitha 2/23); Sri Lanka 102 (Shanaka 35; Boult 4/13, Santner 2/21, Sodhi 2/21). — Reuters