One of my biggest wickets so far: Phillips after dismissing Kohli

Glenn Phillips has expressed his excitement over dismissing Virat Kohli in the first Test in Bengaluru, which New Zealand won by eight wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The middle-order batter, who regularly bowls off-spin, termed Kohli’s wicket as one of his biggest scalps in international cricket.

After New Zealand bowled India out for just 46 runs and took a lead of 356 in the first innings, the Men in Blue made a tremendous comeback in the second essay. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma took the attack to the Black Caps before Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan put on 136 runs for the third wicket. 

India were 231/2 before the final delivery of day three before Phillips pushed one quicker outside the off-stump and Kohli ended up edging it to the wicketkeeper. The batting maestro got out after scoring 70 and that gave New Zealand an opening on day four. Sarfaraz and Rishabh Pant did take the attack to New Zealand but India lost seven wickets for 54 runs. The target was only 107 and New Zealand got there with eight wickets remaining.

"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). 

"In terms of celebration, that was one of my biggest wickets so far. It was just pure elation, more than anything else,” said Phillips after the Black Caps registered a Test win in India after 36 years. 

"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," concluded Phillips, who now has 23 wickets in 10 Tests at an average of 26.47. 

The second Test in Pune will get underway from October 24 (Thursday).

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