Aggressive Allen adds new dimension to New Zealand, says Phillips
Cricket
Glenn Phillips said Finn Allen adds a new element to New Zealand's battling qualities.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand s Finn Allen adds a new element to the team s battling qualities, team-mate Glenn Phillips said after the opening batter put Australia s bowlers to the sword in crushing 89-run win at the Twenty20 World Cup opener.
Allen set the tone for the Group 2 encounter with a brutal 42 off 16 balls while Devon Conway scored made an unbeaten 92 to script a famous win over the champions.
"We were absolutely pumped to be able to watch that from the dugout," Phillips said. "When you come in at four, you re either coming in at a sticky situation or you re coming in like I did yesterday where we were able to launch from a platform.
"The way Finn set the tone for our day was absolutely phenomenal. It s actually special seeing a guy go out there with that freedom and do that and take out some of the best bowlers in the world with such aggression and such ease.
"It puts us on the front foot. It s not always going to come off but it s the sort of tone that allows us to come into a big game with a bit of fight and aggression. We ve always had that, but the way Finn does it just adds another element to it."
Phillips also pulled off a stunning diving catch to dismiss Marcus Stoinis and said his phone was flooded with messages after what he described as a special moment.
"I try to keep the notifications off so it doesn t keep going off every two seconds, but it s cool to see how things circle round," Phillips said.
"I was a little worried I was going to overrun it, I ve overrun a few recently so to time that jump right for the first time in a while was quite cool and to have a view of the crowd right behind was special."
