Watch: In the T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Glenn Phillips adopted a novel sprinter’s pose and immediately set off for a run afterwards.
Sri Lanka held an early upper hand in the Super 12 match. New Zealand opted to bowl, but were left reeling at 15-3 after four overs after they lost Finn Allen, Devon Conway, and captain Kane Williamson. Phillips (104 in 64 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (22 in 24) then settled down, batting cautiously to take New Zealand to 54-3 after 10 overs.
Then Phillips exploded in a flurry of boundaries. Sri Lanka got Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham, but Phillips kept hitting, bringing up his hundred in 61 balls. New Zealand reached 161-5 with four balls to go. Though Mitchell Santner had hit a six off the previous ball, Phillips wanted the strike.
Of late, the cricket world has been abuzz with discussions over the bowler running out the non-striker if the latter left the crease early. While it is prudent to stay inside the crease – the Laws of Cricket back the bowler, after all – it also deprives the non-striker of an early advantage, fair or otherwise, more so because they have to run in pads, with a bat in hand.
Phillips came up with a novel solution to ensure he was not run out, but at the same time, he got the head start he needed. As Lahiru Kumara ran in to bowl, he adopted a sprinter’s stance. He rested the bat on the ground as he did – his very low stance allowed him to – and he set off the moment Kumara released the ball.
In the end, it turned out to be an easy single that New Zealand would have got anyway, but Phillips’s approach would have made the difference in case of a tight run. At the same time, had Santner hit the ball back at the bowler, Phillips might have been in trouble.
Almost anticlimactically, Phillips fell next ball, and New Zealand finished on 167-7. Tim Southee then got Pathum Nissanka to become the leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is, while Trent Boult (3-11) reduced Sri Lanka to 8-4 inside four overs. Brief resistance came from Bhanuka Rajapaksa (32 in 22 balls) before a second collapse ensued. At the time of writing, Sri Lanka are 64-7.
Watch Glenn Phillips’ curious start here:
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