NZ vs CAN | Glenn Phillips channels inner left-hander to stun Canada with imperious slog sweep

New Zealand sealed their Super Eight spot in the T20 World Cup 2026 with a convincing eight-wicket win over Canada in their last group game in Chennai on Tuesday. Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra scored quickfire half-centuries, while also adding an unbeaten 146 runs for the third wicket to make light work of the 174-run chase, closing off the game with 29 balls to spare. Earlier, Canada put a challenging 173/4 on the board, after opting to bat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, riding on a maiden T20I century from Yuvraj Samra (110 from 65 balls).

Though the Kiwis lost both openers inside four overs with the score reading just 30, Phillips and Ravindra prevented further damage while also going berserk against the inexperienced Canada bowlers. Phillips was particularly severe, smashing six sixes and four fours during his unconquered 36-ball 76, while Ravindra played second fiddle, hitting 59 off 39 deliveries.

And one of Phillips’ sixes came as a left-hander after the Kiwi all-rounder changed stance just before Saad Bin Zafar released the ball in the third ball of the 13th over. The batter decided to exploit the packed offside infield as the left-arm spinner delivered a well-flighted delivery that pitched on a good length around middle stump before turning out.

However, the left-handed stance meant the ball came into Phillips as he played the slog sweep over the fielders inside the ring. The shot also displayed the brute power that the Kiwi possessed as the ball flew convincingly past the midwicket fence.

The effort proved infectious as an eager Ravindra got to his feet to recreate a carbon copy of the shot in the last ball of the same over. Both players were having a ball in the middle as Phillips walked across to share a laugh with the former after the second six was hit.

What was that!