Christchurch, Oct 22 — New Zealand batting all-rounder Glenn Phillips said credit has to be given where it was due, after India chased down 226 to record their highest successful T20I chase and win the series opener by four wickets here at the Hagley Oval.
Phillips hit an unbeaten 40-ball 82 and lifted New Zealand to 225/4, but India got home with two balls to spare, and he was gracious in his assessment of the visitors' herculean batting effort.
"You've also got to give credit to the chasing side for chasing 226. It's always a good chase and for them as well, on slightly bigger boundaries, it's something slightly different to what they're used to. You've got to give credit where credit's due sometimes," Phillips said in the post-match press conference.
He further said bowling to India's batters left little margin for error and demanded every plan in the book. "Obviously they're fantastic. You've got to have a plan C, D, E, F, G, H. You've got to have every plan under the sun. With guys like that, you've got such small room for error.
“The pitches are fantastic as well. Also, credit to them, the bounce is probably a little more than they're used to, and they adjusted really well today. I guess we've got all our plans on the drawing board, but at the end of the day you've got to execute them."
Phillips did not believe the toss gave the chasing side a decisive edge at the venue, and felt New Zealand could have made it tougher for India with a tighter effort with the ball in the middle overs.
"I think here with big boundaries, the ball does sometimes tend to nibble under light second innings as well. I think it does even out. Obviously, a wet ball becomes tough to bowl with and becomes a little bit more advantageous with the bat at the end of the innings.
"I think it's a little bit of a toss-up here and there. I wouldn't say compared to some grounds around the world where there's a specific huge advantage for batting second, I'd say.
"Obviously, chasing down 220 makes it look like you want to bat second every time, but I think we maybe take a couple more wickets in the middle or string a few more dots together and we put them under pressure, and they don't chase it, then it obviously looks slightly different as well."
With heavy dew settling on the Hagley Oval outfield during the late-evening game, Phillips said it was something New Zealand had to deal with at this time of the year. "It's just going to be part and parcel of it this time of year. It gets quite cold quite fast. It's fabulous, obviously, to be able to have such a big crowd here for that late game, which is fantastic. But it is just part and parcel of what we have in New Zealand this time of the year.
"I'm pretty sure the grounds try to spray repellent of some sort on there, but there's only so much I suppose you can do. I guess for the guys to go out there, we've just got to try and find a way. Whether it's with the bat or the ball, it's just trying to adapt as much as we can, especially to that dew factor."
On New Zealand's batting, Phillips lauded openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, whom he called the 'Bash brothers', and the partnerships that followed, while admitting the side would want to hold on to more catches.
"Obviously the way the Bash brothers go up at the top of the order is fantastic. They always get us off to a flyer. I think the way that we strung partnerships together throughout the innings is really good. Obviously, you can halt the momentum of the innings quite a lot if we lose a lot of quick wickets.
"That's probably something we want to take forward. A little bit of a tough start, and probably we would like to take a few more catches. The way that the boys still fought, still held on in the middle, still took wickets.
"That's the fight that we're after, especially when dew comes into play. It does get tough. There's obviously no excuses in professional sport. We just have to go out there and give it our best. Obviously, India did better than us today."
Phillips ended New Zealand's innings with a switch-hit four off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and revealed the shot was the result of hours of practice batting left-handed. "I've definitely been practicing a lot, especially the last year or so. I guess since probably the Super Smash last year where there were three left-hand bowlers and one-handed, and I thought, ‘You know what, this is probably something worth experimenting with.’
“So I have been training, even facing sidearm sticks in the nets. The guys at the IPL last year probably got sick of me spending an hour batting and then 45 minutes batting left-handed as well. So I suppose at some stage an opportunity like that comes about and Bhuvi wasn't missing as well, which is the way Bhuvi does things anyway.
"So the last ball, why not give it a go? The hope was more to actually just get him to miss his line in length and hope that I was going to be good enough to hit it, and today I guess I was."
Phillips also backed young Bevon Jacobs, who hit his first ball for six on his way to a 16-ball 31 during their 73-run stand for the fourth wicket. "He has the confidence to go out there and play the ball as he sees it. Obviously, he's an incredibly strong fellow, and he hits it a huge, huge long way.
“But I think that's a testament to the kind of character that we've built on this side, the culture where a guy who's young, who hasn't played too many games, can come in and feel like he can play his natural game.
"If he's given his ball, he hits it, and I hope he carries on. He doesn't necessarily have to hit a six-first ball every game, but for him to be able to have that confidence to go out there and do it is, I think, a real testament to this side."