Following India's dramatic victory over New Zealand in the series opener in Christchurch, Blackcaps batter Glenn Phillips paid rich tribute to the Indian opening duo of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, acknowledging that opposition teams need to have "every plan under the sun" against them due to their minimal margin for error.

Powered by a blistering 93-run opening stand between Sanju (67 off 33 balls) and Abhishek (29 off 12 balls), alongside a crucial late cameo from Naman Dhir (42* off 15 balls), India successfully chased down 226—their highest-ever run-chase in T20 Internationals.

High-scoring thriller in Christchurch

Earlier in the match, New Zealand posted a formidable total of 225/4—their highest home T20I score against India—driven by an unbeaten 82 off 40 balls from Glenn Phillips, alongside key contributions from Finn Allen (45) and Tim Seifert. India's bowling unit faced a stern test, with returning pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceding 49 runs in his four overs, while Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav, and Axar Patel all conceded over 10 runs per over.

India’s response began explosively with Sanju and Abhishek putting on 93 inside the powerplay. A sudden middle-order collapse left India struggling at 122/4, but captain Shreyas Iyer (42 off 28) and Axar Patel (24 off 14) stabilised the innings with a 45-run partnership. Naman Dhir then produced a fiery finish, steering India home with two balls to spare.

The partnership further solidifies the top-order pair of Sanju and Abhishek, who have amassed 1,218 runs together across 39 T20I innings at an average of 31.23, featuring one century and seven half-century stands.

Phillips compliments India's top order resilience

Speaking to reporters during the post-match press conference, Phillips emphasised the challenge of containing the Indian openers early in the innings:

"Rhythm is the hardest thing, especially when you got Sanju and Abhishek doing what they are doing. If you miss it, it is hard to recover from that. We did very well to recover after they basically hit us for, what, 96 or six overs. To take it down to the last over with a side like that that bats to nine is, I think, a fantastic effort to at least show the character, to bring it back, show that we are still in the game the whole time. And obviously, Naman Dhir batted really well at the end there and took it away from us."

Elaborating further on the tactical preparations needed against the duo, Phillips added:

"They are obviously fantastic. You got to have Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I. You have got to have every plan under the sun with guys like that, as they offer such small room for error. Yeah, the pitchers are fantastic as well. Also, the bounce is probably a little more than they used to when they adjusted really well today. I guess we have got all our plans on the drawing board, but at the end of the day you have got to execute them." (ANI)