Glenn Phillips smashed a sublime 104 from 64 balls to lead New Zealand to a crushing 65-run victory over Sri Lanka in the Men’s T20 World Cup in Sydney.
The Black Caps were struggling at 15-3 before Phillips’ stunning counter-attack helped them post 167-7.
Phillips was dropped on 12 and 45 as Sri Lanka were made to rue a sloppy performance in the field.
Kiwi fast bowler Trent Boult then took 4-13 as Sri Lanka slumped to 102 all out in the final over.
The win keeps unbeaten New Zealand comfortably top of the Group 1 table, with Sri Lanka in fifth.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat, New Zealand were quickly in trouble as they lost both openers and their captain Kane Williamson within the first four overs.
But a fourth-wicket partnership of 84 between Phillips and Daryl Mitchell, who made 22, rebuilt the innings.
Phillips attacked from the outset despite the early wickets, reaching his half-century from 39 balls before capitalising at the death as New Zealand scored 54 from the last four overs.
Phillips’ century is the second of the World Cup so far after Rilee Rossouw’s 109 against Bangladesh on Thursday.
Both teams play their next fixtures on Tuesday, with New Zealand taking on England and Sri Lanka facing Afghanistan.
New Zealand will qualify for the semi-finals by beating England, while Sri Lanka have only a slim chance now, needing to win both remaining games and hope other results go their way.
Opening powerplay aside, it was a fantastic performance from the Black Caps, who are establishing themselves as potential favourites for the title after demolishing last year’s champions Australia in their first outing.
It started with Phillips’ brutality and was wrapped up by the brilliance of Boult and Tim Southee.
Phillips, an unorthodox batter who scores all around the ground, was aggressive but smart – clearing the boundary with ease but also running well between the wickets when Sri Lanka’s fielding standards dropped.
Sri Lanka squandered their impressive start, frequently fumbling the ball and giving runs away as well as the two dropped chances of Phillips.
The fact that Mitchell’s 22 was the second-highest score of the innings showed just how dominant Phillips was, with Williamson, Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Jimmy Neesham contributing just 15 runs combined.
“When it comes to cricket, I try to entertain as much as possible – whether that is for good or bad,” said Phillips. “But thankfully today it was on the good end of things. The feeling is absolutely indescribable.”
Boult and Southee then produced a formidable and relentless opening burst.
Southee took 1-12 and struck in the first over, removing Pathum Nissanka for a duck to cap a difficult day for the opener, who dropped a simple chance to remove Phillips on 12.
Boult then took two in his first over and the contest was essentially over.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa and captain Dasun Shanaka were the only batters to offer any resistance, scoring 34 and 35 respectively.
There were two wickets apiece for spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner and with Lockie Ferguson’s pace to complete the attack, New Zealand look fiercely determined to reach their second successive World Cup final.
“To see Glenn change the pressure and put it back on the opposition and get a hundred was remarkable – one of the best knocks I’ve seen for sure,” Williamson told BBC Test Match Special.
“There’s a lot of cricket left so for us it’s about focusing on the next game. As we have seen it doesn’t matter who you play, anyone can beat anyone.”
Even if New Zealand lose to England, a win over Ireland in their final game should be enough to see them through because of their outstanding net run-rate.
England are currently second, ahead of Ireland and Australia on net run-rate, and hold the advantage of playing Sri Lanka in the last game of the group so will know what they need to do to qualify.
