New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips put on a remarkable display of his fielding prowess on Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Marcus Stoinis of Australia was returned to the pavilion by Phillips after a daring catch on a Mitchell Santner delivery.

New Zealand then went on to win the match by 89 runs, overcoming a track record of 11 years.

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Stoinis attempted to go inside out over cover with a drive in the ninth over of the second inning. The ball would have and should have securely landed far from the fielder and sweeper after Stoinis chipped it into the air.

But Phillips, who had come over from a distance, dove for it, went two-handed, and to make sure the ball didn’t fly out as he dropped to the ground, he latched onto it.

Phillips has effectively branded himself an early front-runner for the catch of the tournament.

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Who is Glenn Phillips?

Phillips grew up in New Zealand after leaving South Africa, where he was born when he was five years old. He made his List A debut in the Ford Trophy on January 24, 2015.

On December 4, 2016, Phillips made his Twenty20 debut against the Otago Volts in the 2016–17 Super Smash, starting the batting and scoring 55 runs off 32 deliveries. With 369 runs, he has the most runs scored in Super Smash.

In the final regular-season game against Central Districts, which the Stags won by a Duckworth-Lewis score, he hit his first century (116 not out). Aside from Hamish Marshall, he is the only other domestic player (Phillips being the first) to score hundreds in all three formats of the game in the same domestic season.

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On March 6, 2017, he faced Canterbury in the Plunket Shield, making his first-class debut. He received a deal with Auckland in June 2018 for the 2018–19 campaign.

He was listed as one of the five players to watch in the Caribbean Premier League of 2018 before the competition started. He received a contract offer from Auckland in June 2020, just in time for the domestic cricket season of 2020–21.

He was included on the Jamaica Tallawahs roster for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League in July of that year. He participated in the Hundred’s debut season in 2021 while playing for Welsh Fire. He was included in the Barbados Royals’ roster for the Caribbean Premier League in August 2021.

Also read: T20 World Cup Australia vs New Zealand: Watch Glenn Phillips take gravity-defying catch

He was acquired by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2022 Indian Premier League auction in February of that year. Phillips was re-signed by Gloucestershire in April 2022 for the English T20 Blast. Phillips committed to play for Otago in New Zealand’s domestic league in April 2022.

He enrolled at Otago with his younger brother Dale and declared his intention to develop under coach Dion Ebrahim into a true all-rounder. His contract did not add to the Otago retainer salary bill because he signed a central New Zealand cricket contract in May 2022.

After Martin Guptill was forced to withdraw due to injury, he was included in the New Zealand Twenty20 team for their series against South Africa in February 2017. On February 17, 2017, he played in his first T20I for New Zealand against South Africa at Auckland’s Eden Park.

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He was included in the New Zealand One Day International squad for their series against India in October 2017. He didn’t participate in that series, though. Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls had flu-like symptoms, thus Phillips was added to New Zealand’s Test team for the third game against Australia in December 2019. On January 3, 2020, he played in his first New Zealand Test match against Australia.

Phillips recorded his first century in T20I cricket on November 29, 2020, during the second game against the West Indies. With 46 balls, it was also the quickest century by a New Zealand batsman in a T20I game.

Also read: T20 World Cup 2022: 5 highest run-scorers in tournament history

Prior to the 2021–22 season, New Zealand Cricket awarded Phillips his first central contract in May 2021. Phillips was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in August 2021.

Phillips was included in the New Zealand ODI squads for their tours of Scotland and Ireland in June 2022. On July 10, 2022, he played in his first ODI for New Zealand against Ireland.