NZ vs AUS: Phillips ends spinners' drought but seeks victory as New Zealand captain in the second innings

New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips set a record for his best performance in Test cricket against Australia in Wellington. He became the first New Zealand spinner in 16 years to take a five-wicket haul on home soil, and also made important contributions with the bat. New Zealand had a bad start in the first innings and Australia bundled them out for 179 runs. 

In reply, Phillips' brilliant performance with the bat in the first innings gave New Zealand some respite, where Australia bowled out the hosts for 179 and took a lead of 204 runs. Leading at 29 for five, Phillips scored 71 runs in 70 balls with the help of 13 fours. 

Phillips turned the match by taking 5 wickets
However, while bowling on the third day, Phillips took the initiative to turn the match. He was assigned to bowl as the fifth bowler, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. He troubled the Australian batsmen with his off-spin balls and took wickets continuously. 

Phillips troubled opener Usman Khawaja by stumping him on 28 runs. After this, he dismissed Travis Head (28) and on the very next ball he sent Mitchell Marsh back to the pavilion without opening the account. He also dismissed wicketkeeper Alex Carey (3) and got his memorable wicket by getting first innings centurion Cameron Green (34) caught at short leg. This brilliant performance of Phillips proved helpful to New Zealand in bowling out Australia for just 164 runs, after which he set a huge target of 369 runs for New Zealand.

Phillips becomes the first spinner to take 5 wickets on home soil in 16 years

It is noteworthy that this five-wicket haul of Phillips was his best performance in 54 first-class matches. More importantly, this was the first instance of a New Zealand spinner taking a five-wicket haul on home soil since 2008. Before this, the last time Jeetan Patel and Daniel Vettori took five-wicket hauls on home ground for New Zealand was against West Indies in 2008. This first Test five-wicket haul of Phillips was also his best performance in 54 first-class matches. Interestingly, this was also the first instance of a New Zealand spinner taking five wickets on home soil since 2008.

Off-spinner Jeetan Patel and New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori (against the West Indies in 2008) were the last two New Zealand spinners to take a five-wicket haul on home soil. During this period, eight foreign spinners took five wickets in New Zealand. Harbhajan Singh (2009), Danish Kaneria (2009), Sunil Narine (2013), Keshav Maharaj (twice in 2017), Jack Leach (2023) are the spinners who have played against South Africa in February before Phillips thrashed the Australian batsmen. Neil Brand and Dan Peet had achieved success.

The match has come to an exciting end

However, New Zealand is still facing a tough challenge to win. New Zealand fell short in the beginning in chasing its record target. Although fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood did not get any wickets, off-spinner Nathan Lyon took two wickets in the second innings as the highest run-scorer (41) was the night watchman.
Lyon dismissed opener Tom Latham (8) and then took the important wicket of Kane Williamson (9), while Travis Head dismissed Will Young (15). They have to chase the target of 369 runs, and have lost three wickets on the first day itself. Nevertheless, Rachin Ravindra's half-century and his unbeaten partnership with Daryl Mitchell have kept New Zealand hopeful. The match is still at an exciting stage, by the end of the fourth day of the match, New Zealand is 258 runs behind the target after losing 3 wickets for 111 runs. It remains to be seen whether New Zealand will be able to achieve this target or whether Australia will take a 1-0 lead in the series.