The century, his third in T20s, put Phillips level with Colin Munro and Finn Allen for the most by a New Zealander, having also become the third Black Cap – alongside Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill – to reach triple figures in all formats, when he made 100 against England at The Oval earlier this year.
That innings in particular felt like the moment Phillips had finally unlocked himself as an international batter. With the balance of New Zealand’s test XI seeing him occupy No 7, in order to balance his bowling workload, Phillips is often asked to play situations that don’t complement his natural abilities the way he can in white-ball cricket.
Regardless of format, though, Phillips’ strength, sublime hand-eye co-ordination and inventiveness set him apart from every other Black Caps batter and make him one of the most eye-catching players in the game.
While he himself points to a lean spell for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League as a sign he’s not the finished article, 276 runs at an average of 96 in four games against India point to a player approaching the peak of his powers.
“It’s great that you’re seeing all the highs – it’s fantastic, I love that,” Phillips said. “But there’s a lot of lows, and a lot of [lessons] throughout the process at the same time.
“As far as test cricket goes, I feel like I’ve been pretty close on a lot of occasions, I ran out of partners a few times. But sometimes there’s a little mark that once you get past, you breathe a sigh of relief.
“It was a little bit of a notch in the cap going ‘I can do it’, you’ve proved it to yourself. Maybe that does take the ease off your shoulders.
“But it comes back to our team and our environment, the way we share each others’ success, and trying to play for something that’s bigger than yourself. Hopefully that allows us to hopefully have success more often than not.”
Glenn Phillips celebrates his century against India at Eden Park. Photo / Alyse Wright
To make what he did all the more special, Phillips’ Eden Park ton was made all the more significant by the achievement of his younger brother Dale, a few hundred metres away.
After missing out on a spot in the New Zealand “A” side facing India in three four-day matches, 28-year-old Dale Phillips opened his 50-over Ford Trophy campaign with 112 from just 95 balls in a 33-run victory over Canterbury.
Dale has long been earmarked as one for the future by those in New Zealand cricket circles and the brothers haven’t been shy about their desire to turn out for the Black Caps together.
And even if New Zealand’s ageing golden generation means the pair might have to wait a bit longer to line up on the same field for the Black Caps, Glenn still appreciates what he gets to see from his brother.
“I tried to watch, I try to watch as much as I possibly can,” Phillips said of Dale. “It would have been cool to come here and watch him live. But we had the phone up playing the livestream when we were waiting for the plane to take off.
“It was really cool for him to get off to that sort of start. There’s been a lot of runs in the Ford Trophy at the moment. It’s fantastic for cricket in general, for New Zealand to see what’s coming through, and fantastic for the talent we’ve seen.
“Knowing that we’ve got that depth coming through, not necessarily the next generation, but you do have to keep emerging that talent out to be ready for international cricket.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.