Six Deliveries That Flipped the Script

Six Deliveries That Flipped the Script

For most of the night, Glenn Phillips looked like the safest bet on the park.

With the bat, he was composed and precise. Anything overpitched from the spinners was driven straight back past the bowler; anything short was pulled with control rather than desperation. He finished as New Zealand’s top scorer, never appearing rushed, never chasing the game.

With the ball, he made things happen. When Harry Brook tried to create room, Phillips came from around the wicket and drifted his offbreak away. The angle forced the shot straighter than intended — not toward the 62-metre boundary Brook wanted to clear, but into the hands of long-off. It was calculated and effective.

Soon after, Phillips produced a moment of brilliance in the field — sprinting in from the deep and diving forward to take a sharp catch inches above the turf to dismiss Jacob Bethell. It was instinctive, athletic, and timely.

At that point, it felt like one of those complete T20 performances — the kind where one player influences every phase. Runs. Wickets. Catches. Control.

And then the game shifted.

The Call That Made Sense — Until It Didn’t

England needed 43 from three overs. The decision to hand Phillips the 18th over wasn’t impulsive; it was rooted in logic.

The pitch had assisted spin all evening. England had bowled 16 overs of spin in the first innings — their highest in a T20I — and even turned to Will Jacks earlier to dismiss Phillips himself. Spin had dictated the tempo of the match.

With two right-handers at the crease, Phillips’ offbreaks would turn into them, ideally forcing hits toward the longer boundary. The dimensions were in New Zealand’s favour. The match-ups were favourable. The surface backed the call.

There weren’t many clearer alternatives either. Ish Sodhi had already gone for 21 in two overs. The seamers hadn’t extracted significant help at the death in previous games on this strip. In fact, Sri Lanka had tried pace late in the previous match and paid for it.

Mitchell Santner’s thinking was built on geometry and control — make England hit against the turn, into the bigger side, and back the bowler who had already shaped the contest.

It was a decision layered with reason.

Until six balls changed everything.

The Inflection Point

Rehan Ahmed, playing his first T20 World Cup match, stepped out and launched Phillips straight over long-on. It wasn’t just six runs — it injected belief.

Will Jacks felt it immediately.

That first six altered the mood. The energy shifted. The equation tightened. The required rate no longer looked daunting.

Jacks finished the over with 6, 4, 4.

Twenty-two runs came from it.

In the space of six deliveries, pressure moved camps.

England sensed opportunity. New Zealand felt the squeeze.

Jacks later explained that they had identified off-spin as the moment to attack, knowing Santner’s over would likely follow. The plan was to seize that window — take calculated risks before the equation became even steeper.

And they executed.

Logic vs Momentum

Santner didn’t disown the thinking behind the move. The lengths were right. The boundary sizes were favourable. On another day, those same shots could have found fielders.

But T20 rarely waits for theoretical perfection.

One clean strike can tilt belief. Two can rewrite the script. Three can decide a match.

For 37 overs, Glenn Phillips was central to everything — steady with the bat, sharp in the field, smart with the ball.

In the 38th, he ran into three cleaner hits.

And in T20 cricket, that’s often the difference.

One over. Six balls. A game turned on its head.