Not surprised with Ravindra’s knock: Phillips

The batter added that he knew Ravindra’s capabilities with the bat. “I wasn't surprised at all. Obviously, I've played a lot of cricket with him back home and he actually plays a very aggressive brand of one-day cricket.

Hyderabad: New Zealand cricketer Glenn Phillips said that he was not at all surprised with the knock of Rachin Ravindra, who hit a quickfire 91-ball unbeaten 123 to set up a nine-wicket victory over defending champions England in the World Cup opener on Tuesday.

The batter added that he knew Ravindra’s capabilities with the bat. “I wasn’t surprised at all. Obviously, I’ve played a lot of cricket with him back home and he actually plays a very aggressive brand of one-day cricket. Being up the top of the order, he likes to play with a lot of flair. And then the way he combined with Dev (Devon Conway) as well, the tempo they both set, they struck at 120, 130 without even almost lifting a finger. It was phenomenal to watch,” he added.

---

Speaking on the eve of their clash against the Netherlands, the batter said he was also working on his off-spinners. He made an impact with his bowling with the priced wickets of Joe Root and Moeen Ali. “My bowling has been coming along for quite a while now. And to be able to get the opportunities on the big stage is a moment that I’ve been relishing for a long time. It’s really nice to have the backing of the coaching staff and obviously the captain. And to be able to go out there and execute that role is really enjoyable.”

The 26-year-old also felt that with many New Zealand players competing in IPL, their inputs are crucial in reading the conditions. “Yeah, obviously, we’ve got guys who have played in various IPL teams. Myself and Kane playing here obviously brings a little bit of an advantage to giving information to the boys. We try to take all the information and put it together and as I said, come on the day and adapt to the conditions as fast as possible.”

Meanwhile, Netherland’s Roelof van der Merwe said that they were disappointed to lose the match against Pakistan despite beginning well. But he said there were a lot of learnings from the game. “We have reviewed the game and we understand where we need to improve and all those things have been talked about and we know we need to do it for longer and yeah, all those things have been being discussed.”

Speaking about the New Zealand challenge, the veteran spinner said, “I think every team has plans to batters and tomorrow’s how well we can execute those plans to put them under pressure and I mean those two guys (Ravindrea and Conway) played a great partnership in the previous game but you know we’ve got our plans to get them out and as we said earlier put pressure on them.”