Cricket has come a long way in the way it is played. It is no more a game where the batters play only straight drives, cover drives, or conventional pull shots. In modern-day cricket, the batters are focused on accumulating runs and it does not matter to them how those runs come. In the process, batters play many unconventional shots, and sometimes they are so far from a copy-book shot that commentators or spectators fall short of words to describe that.
One such shot was played by New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips in his team’s game against the West Indies on Monday. Phillips played a reverse lap shot against Alzarri Joseph that left the spectators as well as the commentators amazed. The batter did not hesitate at all while smashing a 14okph delivery for a six. Phillips looked extremely comfortable while reverse lapping Joseph.
On the fourth ball of the 14th over of the New Zealand innings, Alzarri Joseph bowled a good length delivery that was angling into the batter. However, Phillips had already made up his mind and looked crystal clear in his thought process while playing the shot. The batter got under the ball and nonchalantly lifted it over the wicketkeeper’s and third man fielder’s head to see it flying over the ropes for a six.
Watch the video here:
West Indies get a consolation win
Coming to the match, it was a consolation win for the West Indies who had already lost the series before playing the third T20I. Nonetheless, the hosts put on a better show as compared to the first two games and registered a win by eight wickets to end the series on a high. After losing the toss, West Indies restricted New Zealand to 145/7 as they got some early breakthroughs. Akeal Hosein (2/28) and Odean Smith (3/29) did the job with the ball in hand for the Windies.
With the bat, Shamarh Brooks and Brandon King gave a perfect start as they stitched a 102-run partnership for the first wicket. While King departed after scoring 53 off 35 balls, Brooks (56*) stayed till the end to ensure a win for West Indies. Rovman Powell, the acting captain also played a quickfire knock of 27* (15) to help his team’s cause in defeating New Zealand.