New Zealand wouldn’t have been in position to win without Phillips’ 87 in the first innings, before an unbeaten 40 lifted his side out of a 69-6 hole and to their target of 137.
Both knocks were played in the positive fashion that has made the 27-year-old integral to particularly the T20 team — a match aggregate of 127 was not only 60 more than any batter on either side but accumulated at a strikerate of 106.
And considering the Black Caps’ top six combined for 110 runs in 12 innings, never comfortable against the hosts’ spin attack, both knocks confirmed for Southee that Phillips thrived in the toughest of circumstances.
“The innings in the first innings was a match-winning effort, and on that wicket was worth a hell of a lot more than 80-odd,” Southee said. “In only his second and third test match, to be able to come in and play the way he knows how, that’s a sign of the guy.
“He’s a very positive guy in the way he plays, and just because it’s a different format, he still trusted that his way was the right way.
“A lot of his great innings have been on difficult wickets. He does exceptionally well in the [Caribbean Premier League] on difficult wickets, and I look back on one innings in Pakistan at the start of the year [63no in a two-wicket ODI win], he has a way of doing things on tricky wickets.”
Such success raised the question of why Phillips waited almost four years for another red-ball chance after top-scoring for the Black Caps with 52 on debut against Australia at the SCG.
Having spent the interim period refining his offbreak, specifically to increase his value in the longest format, he won’t have long to wait for his next test cap.
Phillips has surely locked down the No. 7 position for this summer, with a second-string South Africa visiting at the start of February before Australia tour to begin March.
The spinning all-rounder role was last summer filled with limited success by Michael Bracewell, who in four matches took nine wickets at 41.2 and looked lost at the crease while scoring 81 runs at 13.5.
His Achilles injury clears the path — although Mitchell Santner made a similarly strong case for inclusion during the second match in Bangladesh — and will test Phillips’ ability to extract assistance from generally docile surfaces for spinners.
“It’s been a dream of mine for a long time now,” he said. “To get the opportunity to be able to bowl so many overs, to be able to take a few wickets as well, and know the process I’ve been working on for such a long time is actually paying off.
“And the fact that Timmy had the confidence to go to me. I don’t necessarily have the experience behind me that a lot of guys have, but thankfully the conditions were definitely favourable to spinners.
“To get an opportunity in such spin-friendly conditions is really cool.”
