Long touted as a T20I specialist, an ODI player at best, fiery lower-order batsman Glenn Phillips was never really looked at as the real deal in Tests. Doubts were raised over his inclusion in the New Zealand squad for the Bangladesh Test series as well. But for now, he seems to have done enough to silence his critics. In the second Test in Dhaka, he played an eye-opener of an innings. The one that would not only be important in the context of the result of the match but also give New Zealand their future Test regular.
Against all odds, perception, pitch, and Bangladeshi spinners, Phillips scored a magnificent 87 from 72 deliveries. On a pitch where all the other batsmen from both the teams, Phillips clearly showed the way. At the end of the two innings, Mushfiqur Rahim managed to register the second-best score of the match, at 35.
Why Glenn Phillips’ Innings vs Bangladesh Holds Value?
At one stage, New Zealand were reeling at 97-7, and that is when Phillips took matters into his hand. Trailing by a tall margin of 75, he scored close to 40 runs from there on, to give his side a lead of eight runs. While the other batsmen kept falling, he took the attack to the spinners, especially Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam, as the duo ended up leaking 117 runs, which is massive in the context of a low-scoring encounter.
If his batting was not enough to cement his place in the Test side for the future, he emerged as a more than handy off-spinner, picking up three wickets in the first innings. Playing only his third Test, after making his debut in 2022, this performance alone could change his fortunes with the Kiwi side.
‘First class’ knocks to Test show
Somehow, Phillips’ first-class record has always gone unnoticed. In the 50 FC matches, he averages 41 and has scored 3349 runs with the help of eight tons. Post this Test, a solid domestic season might just develop him into the Test cricketer, that no one saw coming. As for now, his first job would be to win the Test match for New Zealand, and square the series, that they are trailing 0-1.
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