New Zealand's Glenn Phillips unleashed the beast inside him as he brought the second century of the T20 World Cup 2022 in a match against Sri Lanka on Saturday (October 29).
Phillips ripped through the Sri Lankan bowling attack as he belted them left, right and centre in his whirlwind knock of 104 off 64 to help New Zealand post a competitive total.
Phillips crossed the 100-run mark in 61 balls, having hit Maheesh Theekshana for a four towards the midwicket region. After achieving the feat, Phillips jumped in joy and his celebration was truly ecstatic. He was eventually dismissed on 104 (64) by Lahiru Kumara, before New Zealand posted a total of 167/7 after electing to bat.
Phillips was delighted with his knock as he roared in front of packed SCG crowd, and also pointing his bat towards the Kiwi dressing room.
"The second hundred of #T20WorldCup 2022," ICC captioned the video.
Notably, It was the second century of the tournament, after South African Rilee Rossouw's 109 against Bangladesh, and only the 11th in T20 World Cup history.
Here's Phillips animated celebration after bring his ton…
Coming in at 7/2, Phillips started off slowly, alongside captain Kane Williamson. But once the captain departed thanks to a sensational delivery by Kasun Rajitha, Phillips took on the mantle for the Kiwis and started smashing the ball around.
The 25-year-old smashed 10 boundaries and 4 sixes against the Sri Lankans as he pulled New Zealand back in the game.
His flat batted forehand shots off both the spinners and pacers stood out in his memorable innings. His first six off Chamika Karunaratne, a pick up shot that went flying over long leg, gave him the confidence to go ballistic and lift the team from a precarious start.
Phillips reached the three figure mark with a pull off mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, prompting roaring celebrations from the belligerent batter.
Theekshana, who impressed with the new ball, was too short in the death overs and Phillips took full advantage of that. The New Zealander smashed him for two successive sixes in the 18th over that went for 16.
The last five overs yielded 67 runs for New Zealand. Sri Lanka's catching and ground fielding on the day left a lot to be desired.
The only positive for Sri Lanka was their performance in the first six overs in which they removed the dangerous Finn Allen, Devon Conway and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson.
Theekshana removed Finn with an inswinger, pretty unusual for a spinner, that was too close to cut. Willamson was caught behind as he tried to drive wide ball off pacer Kasun Rajitha on the up.
