Use your bat as much as possible is Glenn Phillips’ basic motto for dealing with the challenging Dhaka surface, he said after he helped New Zealand rally from 55 for 5 with a 72-ball 87. By the end of the third day, New Zealand had taken an eight-run lead over Bangladesh in a low-scoring match that was still in the balance thanks to his counterattacking half-century, his second in Test cricket.
Throughout the spectrum, Phillips hit 13 boundaries, but his slog-swept sixes were particularly potent. The spinners from Bangladesh were taken off guard and were forced to reduce their lengths, which gave Phillips even more opportunity to attack the ball.
Following the play of the day, Phillips remarked, “I was just trying to play with my bat as much as possible and pick my poison effectively.” It was all about realizing that they would bowl extremely well and planning what I wanted on my court to be able to block such shots. I suppose I’m just attempting to follow my strategy as precisely as I can. I understood that there would be some turn and bounce in the pitch, so I tried not to get too worked up over it and instead focused on remaining composed and as clear as I could.
“Using my bat as much as possible is what it means to me. Generally speaking, I don’t want to leave many deliveries. I will stand up for balls that are extremely well bowled and that are there to be defended. But realize that sometimes the best course of action on pitches like this is to be a little bit more aggressive. A bowler can be persuaded to bowl in an area where you feel a little more at ease if you can slightly off-lengthen them.”
Considering that Phillips had to endure a whole day of rain before starting again on the third morning of 5, how did he prepare for this innings? He studied how the other New Zealand hitters made contact with the ball because he wanted to play as much as possible, but he didn’t allow it interfere with his own game.
“I saw a chart that showed our hitters’ various points of contact. Everybody approaches it in a different way. Some males move much farther back, while some people move much farther forward. It simply involves figuring out what suits that person the best. I think the key for me was to try to stay on the leg side of things and use my bat as much as possible.”
“Someone emerged from the side of the sight screen just as Shoriful [Islam] was about to start his delivery. It was in my brain as well, but I should have pushed away. Perhaps it’s a little late, but I neglected to observe the ball and to back off.
Glenn Phillips on the ball that proved to be his fatal blow
But Phillips was unable to reach 100, and when he faltered on 87, he appeared clearly unhappy about something. He gave the following explanation of what had happened: “Someone emerged from the side of the sight screen just as Shoriful [Islam] was about to deliver his line. It was in my brain as well, but I should have pushed away. It’s probably a little late now, but I didn’t draw away or monitor the ball—instead, I did neither and stole it.”
According to Phillips, going into the fourth innings, New Zealand would prefer not to be chasing much more than 180–200. “Undoubtedly, we got off to a bit of a rough start in our first innings, but the Bangladeshi boys made a few outstanding catches that immediately put us on the back foot. If the pitch remains unchanged, as I believe it will given the amount of time it has been covered, I would probably estimate that a score of between 180 and 200 will be a nice one and difficult to chase.
“It’s not insurmountable, but it will undoubtedly require some effort, and we must adhere closely to our game plans. However, we’ll be quite pleased if we can limit them to less than 200.”
