When the odds are stacked against you, it is important to enforce moments of magic and shake the stage. Glenn Phillips, who’s always a live wire in the field, executed a scintillating catch to offer New Zealand the first breakthrough in the 2025 Champions Trophy final against India.
Batting first after the coin fell in New Zealand’s favour, their strong start in the first powerplay was nullified by the Indian spinners, who curbed runs and kept picking up wickets at regular intervals. However, an excellent half-century from Michael Bracewell steered the Kiwis to a fighting 251 runs tally in the first innings. In response, the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill offered a steady start with the bat before a special effort was required to break the stand.
Riding on the back of Rohit Sharma’s maiden fifty of the tournament, India reached to the hundred-run mark by the 17th over without any hiccups. An over later, the refreshment break was taken and the Kiwis found their way into the contest. On the fourth ball of the 19th over, Mitchell Santner sprayed a flighted delivery outside the stumps to Gill that the right-hander tried to loft over extra cover. Phillips, at short extra cover leaped high enough to get a reach of the ball and snare it out of thin air. The ball was hit hard by Gill, and the reaction time needed for the catch was bare minimum. But Phillips defied the odds and enforced the breakthrough, earning high praise from his teammates and the Twitterverse.
That was unbelievable!
— ashik (@ashik1587212) March 9, 2025
Glenn Phillips is not a human 😭#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/4qHriw68E5
— Harsh (@harshch20442964) March 9, 2025
Superman!
Superb!
Glenn Phillips again!! What a catch🔥🔥
— Shubham Jajoo (@jajoo_shubham) March 9, 2025
Glenn Phillips is not just a #BLACKCAP, he is a mini #BLACKHOLE. Nothing escapes it.#ChampionsTrophyFinal #NZvIND #INDvsNZ
— Sunil T Purakkal (@suniltpn) March 9, 2025
Excellent!
Superman!
Sometimes I can’t believe humans can fly, then I see Glenn Phillips play.
— Dhruv Tripathi (@DhruvTripathi77) March 9, 2025
GLENN PHILLIPS I HAVE A QUESTION
ARE YOU A HUMAN?#ICCChampionsTrophy #indvsnzfinal #ChampionsTrophyFinal #INDvsNZ #iccchampionstrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/WyqzLsw1Ui— SUNIL KUMAR (@ijustsunil) March 9, 2025
Flying human!
Great fielder!
Glenn phillips Greatest fielder after Jonty Rhodes 🥶#INDvsNZ #ChampionsTrophy2025 #glennphillips pic.twitter.com/rV5v2snzeU
— Ritik Sharma (@ritksharmaa) March 9, 2025
