Phillips found vital support in Michael Bracewell (65 off 25) as the pair added 115 in 41 balls for the fifth wicket, as he joined Colin Munro with three T20 International centuries for New Zealand.
With the ball, Jacob Duffy (4-23) got his own back for being brutalised in the capital by knocking the top off India’s batting order, and coming back to strike again later in the innings, as the leader of a Black Caps attack missing Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson. He was supported by captain Santner (2-24), who struck through the middle to suffocate India and helped push the target out of reach.
After the brutal victory in the Capital, India’s batters perhaps fell for the trap Eden Park brings, by attempting to clear the boundaries without any game awareness, and lost their wickets one by one as a result.
Only some late fireworks from Tilak Varma (35 off 35) gave the mostly Indian crowd something to cheer about, but it was far too little too late as most of the 39,000 sellout crowd headed for the exits once it was clear victory was off the table.
Both sides will head to Hamilton on Sunday for the series finale, before the five One-Day Internationals start next Wednesday.
Coming to the crease at 34-2, Phillips combined with Finn Allen to see New Zealand through the power play without further loss at 67-2. The pair added 50 in just 27 balls together, before Allen (31 off 17) took the attack to Axar Patel (1-43), with two huge sixes over midwicket, only to fall when he was caught at deep cover.
But joined by Bracewell, Phillips took a back seat, even after passing fifty for the third in the series off 31 balls. The pair added a breakneck century stand in just 34 deliveries, as Bracewell hammered four fours and four sixes on his way to a 19-ball half-century – raised with a scoop over fine leg.
Not to be outdone, Phillips clubbed four sixes in four balls from Nitish Kumar Reddy, to see the score past 200 in the 16th over, and move into the 90s. Once Bracewell went, Phillips effortlessly got to his milestone, and raised his bat after another six – his ninth – straight down the ground to reach triple figures.
Phillips’ 10th six, sliced over third man, raised the 250 to start the final over, but holed out one ball later to depart to a standing ovation, one short of matching his career-best, as the bulk of New Zealand’s record total.
However, after the Black Caps’ class of 2018 couldn’t defend 244 against Australia at the same venue, all bets were off to see what India’s batting unit could do on the short boundaries.
Admittedly missing 15-year-old phenomenon Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, India’s openers couldn’t replicate the success they had in Wellington, as Sanju Samson (4) departed second ball when his skied top edge off Jacob Duffy was accepted by Tim Seifert behind the stumps. Three balls later, Duffy had Ishan Kishan caught and bowled for a duck, as India completed the first over at 8-2.
Duffy could have had a third when Santner dropped a difficult chance off Wellington centurion Abishek Sharma on nine, running back from mid-off. And while Abishek would find the fence three times and clear it once on his way to 27, Santner made no mistake a second time when he was offered a simpler chance off Matt Fisher (2-40).
And when captain Shreyas Iyer (22) lost his stumps backing away to Adam Milne, India were 61-4 at the end of the power play.
Having held himself back in Wellington, Santner’s introduction saw two more Indian wickets – first when Reddy (21) hit straight to Bracewell at cover, before Axar (7) gave the skipper a return catch to leave the tourists 89-6, and needing 153 from the final 10 overs with the last recognised pair of Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir at the crease.
Dhir should have been gone for 20, when his skyward shot went through Bevon Jacobs’ hands on the cover boundary. But Duffy’s return in the 12th over saw his demise, courtesy of a relay catch between Daryl Mitchell and a diving Nathan Smith saw his end for 28, and saw the Black Caps into the bowlers, and the largely Indian crowd began to head for the exits.
Duffy claimed one more, Arshdeep Singh caught at deep point, but missed his hat-trick and five-wicket haul, however he could take solace as the required run rate climbed above what’s mathematically possible to end the night, as India’s last wicket pair couldn’t hit 97 off the last over.
New Zealand 259-7 (Phillips 107; Mayank 3-48)
India 172-9 (Varma 35; Duffy 4-23)
New Zealand win by 87 runs
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
