Kiwis win. Sri Lanka's double collapse. Phillips knock. Southee & Boult again. And recycling cold sandwiches.
Day 14 from the WC.
New Zealand
In some ways, Sri Lanka came into this competition with more hype than New Zealand. I suppose by definition so everyone does all the time. But this felt even starker because Sri Lanka had won the Asia Cup.
They were calling people up from the streets to bowl seam for them, their record is still really patchy overall and their main strength appears to be two spinners, which is handy in Australia, not not as explosive as other places.
What do New Zealand have in comparison? Just a very well-rounded bowling unit with some handy part-time backups. Plus the new ball bowling is still Boult and Southee. They have lost Taylor, and parked Guptill, but still have Phillips, Mitchell, Allen and Conway.
I mean, what on earth were we sleeping on. Yes, getting two of the three tournament favourites in your group was tricky. But even so, you know, they usually do ok.
Today was a classic case of them getting more than they should have considering their start, and maybe even the wicket itself. And then they ate the souls of Sri Lanka in the reply. Compared to most teams, it is interesting how often the New Zealand team does exactly what it says it should on paper.
They will have some interesting pieces on the bench, like Bracewell and Milne. They have only played two games, but they are looking good.
Phillips
This Glenn Phillips innings was something else. His top order had fallen apart. The pitch was weird, at one point a slower ball seemed to hit a rock and roll. And the spinners were well on top. Phillips never really consolidated, even early on when he was struggling a bit, he was still trying.
Phillips is an incredible cricketer. A keeper who bowls, but is also an incredible out fielder. Maybe one of the quickest runners between wickets we have. And today, he pulled out this move, which is something that not only stops Mankads, but also probably makes sense from a sport science background.
But, on to his batting. Today Phillips was New Zealand’s batting, not only did their top order fall apart, the players who did manage to spend any time with him didn’t do much at all. It really was only the tail who made any proper damage.
And to be fair to the other guys, it wasn’t that easy a wicket. Please see Sri Lanka’s score for further proof. And yet Phillips did some amazing things.
I want to focus on something he does that I love, is ability to completely commit to a ball and still improvise perfectly.
Sometimes when Phillips is batting, he does this forward press across the crease, but as a fake It’s like a batter pretending to charge, or stepping back only to come back into the position. But he can also do this, pretend step, get back into the spot, then pick the slower ball and play a standing sweep from a quick. This isn’t even the only time he did something like this. He can have three different movements in the shots he plays, he is so quick and unique.
And for fun, she plays backfoot forehands off the spinner. Which are really more the kinds of shots you see people play against spinners with a tennis ball, not in a real match. Its the improvisation, striking and commitment he shows in these I love. Plus they are ugly as hell.
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