Aotearoa fought off any upset niggle against Sri Lanka for a dominant win thanks to the most exciting cricketer in the world Glenn Phillips. Phillips cracked 104 runs @ 162.5sr to take Blackcaps to 167/7 before the kiwi bowlers dismissed Sri Lanka for 102. In a T20 World Cup full of funky results, these wins are crucial and Aotearoa will need to elevate for their game against England tomorrow night.

Phillips whacked boundaries but the theme of Blackcaps T20 cricket is gritty Aotearoa mahi. Within four overs the Blackcaps had lost Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Kane Williamson. Phillips and Daryl Mitchell came together at the start of the fifth over to rebuild the innings with hard running, classy strokes and a splash of luck.

This is similar to what happened against Australia as Conway and Williamson took their time to rebuild after Allen's explosion. Against Australia the Blackcaps went from 56/1 to 125/2 (4.1ov - 12.6ov). In nine overs against Sri Lanka, Aotearoa managed just three boundaries and those boundaries all came in separate overs. In this phase Aotearoa went from 15/3 to 76/3 and having pondered this gritty T20I mahi for Aotearoa, we can view this as the ‘bridge over mangroves’ phase.

In the ninth over against Sri Lanka, Phillips was 22 off 22 balls. Phillips finished on 104 off 64 balls. In both games Aotearoa has embraced the bridge over mangroves and this is from the same gritty quiver as Blackcaps fielding. The value of fielding was on display against Sri Lanka and Blackcaps batters didn't just pounce on dropped catches, they pounced on any slight knock-on from Sri Lanka's fielders.

Against weaker teams like Sri Lanka, this grind can break the opponent down. Aotearoa is probably fitter than many of their opponents and are willing to leave everything on the field. This means that batters are able to run mulitple doubles in an over and Blackcaps fielders are flying around like Tui to save runs. How this looks against England will be interesting as England pose a far greater challenge, but lack the same level of comfort in this gritty zone of T20WC cricket.

Glenn Phillips has been cooking as a exceptional T20 cricketer in recent years...

• 2019 CPL: 4th - 374 runs @ 37.4avg/145sr, 3 x 50

• 2020 CPL: 2nd - 316 runs @ 35.11av/127.41sr, 2 x 50

• 2021 CPL: 10th - 254 runs @ 31.75avg/128.28sr, 2 x 50

• 2021 Blast: 2nd - 500 runs @ 55.55avg/163.39sr, 3 x 50

• 2022 Blast: 31st - 340 runs @ 34avg/135.45sr, 4 x 50

In both of Aotearoa's wins, batting has overshadowed the bowlers. Blackcaps have deployed the same bowling attack in both games and all five bowlers have taken wickets in both games. Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi all have a 2+ wicket game, while Lockie Ferguson has a wicket in both games.

Southee is the most economical bowler in the tournament and the only bowler operating below 4rpo. Boult is fifth with 4.62rpo, while Santner and Sodhi are both operating below 7rpo. Blackcaps have the best net-run-rate in the entire T20WC and this depends on the bowlers just as much as the batters; Australia scored 111, Sri Lanka scored 102.

Kiwi cricket fans know exactly what Allen does at the top of the order. Kiwis have seen Conway's class on repeat for a few years now. Phillips scored a Super Smash, Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield century in the same season as a 20-year-old. These lads are doing what we've come to expect from them. Kiwi cricket fans also know that Aotearoa has legendary T20I bowlers and against powerful batting units such as England, the bowlers will be crucial.

Tim Southee leads all T20I bowlers for wickets with 126 and Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) is laying down a funky challenge on 125 wickets. Only five bowlers have 100+ T20I wickets ever and Aotearoa has two of them with Ish Sodhi on 106 wickets. Southee, Sodhi, Santner and Boult all have T20I career strike-rates below 18.5; all four have better T20I strike-rates than Al Hasan, Jasprit Bumrah, Adam Zampa, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Kagiso Rabada and Adil Rashid.

Aotearoa is 8-12 in T20Is vs England which shifts to 4-3 since the start of 2018. At last year's T20WC, Aotearoa defeated England with an over to spare. Allen and Ferguson didn't play that game, both should be starters for this encounter.

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Peace and love.