NEW DELHI: New Zealand‘s Glenn Phillips expressed his excitement after dismissing modern-day great Virat Kohli, terming it as ‘one of the biggest wickets in Test cricket‘.
Tom Latham-led New Zealand became the first Kiwi side in 36 years to defeat India in a Test match in India. They chased down the 107-run target in the fourth innings of the first Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, eventually beating India by 8 wickets in Bengaluru.
Kohli, who was dismissed on duck in the first innings, played a vital innings of 70 runs in the second essay. However, his stint at the crease came to an end on the last ball of the third day’s play when he was dismissed by Phillips, which ultimately turned out to be the game-changing moment.
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Phillips acknowledged Kohli’s stature as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, making the dismissal even more special for him.
“Yeah, he is probably one of the biggest wickets in Test cricket going around at the moment. To be able to produce something special on the last ball of the day, was quite incredible. They put on a big partnership and put us on the backfoot. But to contribute in that way, on the last ball of the day, the tension had built up. They had been playing really well upto that point, took a little bit of momentum for us going into the next day,” Phillips said in an interview with New Zealand Cricket (NZC).
On his wild celebration after dismissing Kohli, Phillips said, “In terms of celebration, that was one of my biggest wickets so far. It was just pure elation, more than anything else.”
“It is absolutely phenomenal. A lot of New Zealand sides have come and tried, and unfortunately they have not been on the winning end of it but for us to come and perform like this, and produce a win for the first time in 36 years, it’s pretty special,” the 27-year-old all-rounder said.