Phillips’ Maiden ODI Century Powers New Zealand to Victory Over Pakistan

Glen Phillips made headlines scoring a match-winning century against Pakistan for New Zealand in the first match of the ODI tri-series in Lahore. The middle-order batsman, playing his first full One-Day International innings as a centurion, helped his side reach an imposing score of 330/6 from their overs. Ultimately, Phillips rounded-up with a swashbuckling 72-ball 106 and ensured that the visitors had a target that was challenging to chase.

Pakistan struggled quite well, but their gallant pursuit nevertheless was brought down by 252 all out, which gave New Zealand a comfortable winning margin of 78 runs. Not only did he shine with the bat, but Phillips also picked up the vital wicket of Pakistan’s explosive opener, Fakhar Zaman, which dealt a mortal blow to the hosts’ chase.
A Solid Base, But Early Problems
It was early troubles for New Zealand. Their openers fell cheaply-Will Young for 2 runs and Rachin Ravindra for 25 off just 19 balls-leaving them struggling at 34/2. Shaheen Afridi struck early, sending Young back after just 2 runs on the board before Abrar Ahmed took a sharp catch to dismiss Ravindra.
New Zealand was recuperated by two previous forties-Darrel Mitchell and Kane Williamson. The partnership between Williamson and Mitchell accounted for a defiant 95 runs for the third wicket after a fledgling start for New Zealand. Not in his sharpest form, Williamson had a few lucky escapes, not least avoiding a caught-behind dismissal, but nevertheless the innings came to rest on his shoulders. Mitchell, on the other hand, made an aggressive start from the pavilion, and the first thought was to bring New Zealand beyond one hundred runs by the end of 21 overs with Williamson.
Williamson could reach his milestone fifty from Shaheen Afridi with a four but got even by grabbing his wicket for 51, aided by a brilliant catch from the keeper. In fact, the next batter to walk out was Tom Latham, whose visit lasted only a total of two balls. After an LBW call was overturned, Latham was caught in midwicket by Haris Rauf with the very next ball. The troublesome Haris Rauf thus left Pakistan with one less bowler in the attack due to his injuries.
Mitchell’s Persistent Knock and Phillips’ Late Flurry
But that wasn’t all. Mitchell had a little bloodless five runs added to his tally for the half-century off 61 balls before he hit Khushdil Shah for six, and then hit that second six off Abrar Ahmed to get up to the New Zealanders’ 200. He even fell for the midwicket catch off Abrar for 81 from 84.
That put New Zealand under the cosh at 208/5, with few dos at the back. But that’s when Glenn Phillips took over. Batting at 26 off 29 balls, Phillips exploded in the final overs, adding 122 runs in the last 9 overs, with a staggering 80 of those scored from his own bat. His aggressive hitting in the final moments helped push New Zealand to a score beyond what Pakistan had to shoot for.
Michael Bracewell helped the cause for Phillips’ victory by edging towards a quick-fire 31 (including three sixes). Phillips, however, was the star. He reached fifty off 55 balls and then cranked it up, blasting five sixes-four of them off Shaheen Afridi-in the last three overs. His final tally was “106 not out off 72 balls”- a match-winning innings that took New Zealand far beyond Pakistan’s reach.
Early Hope Disappears from Pakistan’s Response
Pakistan’s chase had started with the explosive opening partnership of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam, and in this case, Zaman scored much faster, bringing up his fifty runs in just 48 balls. Thereafter, he also had a few sixes among his outings and finally forged a 52-run stand with Babar Azam. But then the impact of New Zealand bowling looked well led by Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell in the early breakthroughs.
The left-arm spinner Santner took out Babar to finish his knock on just 8 runs to break the partnership. Bracewell then came in and followed it up with the key scalp of Zaman, who had been hammering New Zealand’s bowlers. Phillips struck at 51 runs in the 18th over when Zaman had looked dangerous, and Pakistan’s chased already looked to be on the back foot.
From a promising start of 71/1, Pakistan quickly lost the plot and fell apart at 16 runs for the loss of three wickets: Kamran Ghulam (18 off 32) to Santner in 19 and captain Mohammed Rizwan was trapped lbw by Santner for just 3. The tail fell further when Zaman was dismissed not long afterwards, leaving Pakistan floundering at 117/3 in the 23rd over.
The article depicts that there is a glimmer of hope although it is too little and too late.
Pakistan middle order showed some resistance with Salman Agha (40 off 51) and Tayyab Tahir (30 off 29) posting 69 runs for the fourth wicket, with the spin department of New Zealand putting a tight grip on the run rate. Santner and Bracewell were excellent in the middle overs, and Pakistan needed 179 runs from the last 17 overs, with the asking rate climbing to 9.35 runs per over.
After the drinks break, Henry broke through two big wickets of Afridi and Naseem Shah. Pakistan was down to 175/7. Santner and Bracewell struck on consecutive deliveries, dismissing Khushdil and Salman Agha to further push Pakistan into trouble. Though a few boundaries were hit by late resister Abrar Ahmed, the team never recovered and was eventually out at 252-all out with Henry’ take of 3/53.
New Zealand’s Complete Performance
New Zealand’s complete victory was a result of Phillips’s fireworks at the end, Mitchell’s steady knock, and the brilliant work done with the ball by Santner and Bracewell. Definitely, Phillips was the hero, taking New Zealand to a challenging total which Pakistan could not chase.
Thus, with that, New Zealand has sent out a clear message to the other teams in the tri-series regarding their ability to recover from early setbacks and finish strong. For Pakistan, however, even though one or two players put in good individual displays, it was a performance rich with missed opportunities and late-game breakdowns. They’ll have to gather themselves quickly to remain in the title hunt.