Facing cunning left-arm spinner Fabian Allen, Phillips calmly defended the first delivery of his innings before launching the ball over deep backward square for six.
Two balls later Phillips again took full toll of Allen's offering with the ball - this time walking down the pitch to send it into the stands over long on - but let out a mighty scream in the process and fell to the ground.
Black Caps physiotherapist Tommy Simsek then raced onto the ground to tend to Phillips who, it turns out, had dislocated his knee during his charge down the wicket.
Fortunately, in an act of true grit, Phillips managed to pop the knee back into place himself and all Simsek needed to do was apply some strapping to boost the confidence in his charge.
The treatment worked. The very next delivery saw Phillips stay deep in his crease and swing Allen high over deep midwicket for his third six in four deliveries.
Phillips added a four past short fine leg to complete the 22-run Allen over and the Black Caps chase was, all of a sudden, back on track.
Despite Phillips losing his wicket in the following over, his impact was lasting as he showed fellow master-blaster Jimmy Neesham (48 from 24 balls) the way as he led his side on to the five-wicket victory.
The Black Caps can also breath a sigh of relief that the sudden injury doesn't seem serious, the side indicating in a tweet that the star batsman's knee should be fine for the rest of the T20 series.
Game two of the T20 series takes place on Sunday at 2pm in Mount Maunganui.
