In a high-pressure final, there are certain moments that can decide the course of the game. For New Zealand, holding out Glenn Phillips in the T20 World Cup 2026 final against India seemed to be one of those defining moments. Phillips was the only right-arm spinner the Blackcaps had in their line-up for the match, with Cole McConchie dropped for Jacob Duffy. Yet the all-rounder bowled just one ball and gave away five runs in it and was never bowled again.
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This allowed the Indian batsmen to break free and deploy a mammoth 255 in the finalwhich ended up with a win and the title. Santner explained the reason for the call in the post-match press conference. The New Zealand captain said the way Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson played Phillips brilliantly made him go for the pacers in the hope of getting something off the track.
Santner further stated that if Samson were to be released early, Phillips would be pitted against Abhishek and Kishan.
“I think the way they bowled the over, Abishek, who I thought bowled very smartly. I know he goes a bit hard on the off spinner at times, but he left it to Sanju. And then I think the first type of three overs is when the ball does its best. And then I think you can really use the last three overs like they did. So it was always another option if Sanju GP got to the tough. left-handers, but if you don’t take wickets, it’s always a challenge,” said Samson.
WHY IS NEW ZEALAND DROP MCCONCHIE?
Given how India struggled against off-spin bowlers during the tournament, it seemed logical to bring in McConchie. But Santner said there was not much spin on offer during the game and he felt the pacers would have bounced a lot from the flat deck on offer at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“Yeah, it was tough. I mean, we saw in Kolkata, I think the match was again off the spin of their top three. Ahmedabad, wicket, mixed ground, usually there’s no spin. There’s always a bit of bounce. I think bowling my overs, Axar’s and Chakravarty’s, I think there was no real spin, so there was no potential. bounce for the seamers, but I think at the end of the day it’s execution, whoever bowls, I think when you bowl for a while, so that was the main thing he lost four wickets, but apart from that it was a couple of runs,” Santner said.
It was New Zealand’s fifth consecutive white-ball ICC final loss and second consecutive against India.
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Published on:
March 9, 2026 08:47 IST
