Glenn Phillips smashed a powerhouse 104 and Trent Boult grabbed four wickets as New Zealand swept past Sri Lanka by 65 runs in Sydney on Saturday to put them in pole position to make the semi-finals at the Twenty20 World Cup.
New Zealand batted first and posted 167-7 with Phillips unstoppable, rescuing his team after the top order was blown away, losing Finn Allen, Doug Conway and Kane Williamson for 15 runs.
Boult and Tim Southee then reduced Sri Lanka to 4-8 in the chase and there was no way back as they crumbled to 102 all out. Boult ended with a career-best 4-13.
Phillips hit 10 fours and four sixes in his 64-ball knock — the second century of the tournament, after South African Rilee Rossouw’s 109 against Bangladesh, and only the 11th in T20 World Cup history.
“Incredible, any hundred is amazing, but the way he worked hard and put pressure on the opposition after our poor start,” skipper Williamson said.
“The boys executed the plans really well.” Phillips said it was “absolutely indescribable” to score a century at the World Cup.
“I try to entertain as much as possible, and today it worked out well,” he added.
Plenty was on the line with Group One wide open after both matches in Melbourne on Friday — Australia v England and Afghanistan v Ireland — were washed out.
New Zealand’s win gives them a two-point buffer, and a superior run rate, at the top of the table from England, Ireland and Australia with two games to play.