The 24-year-old right-hander has endured a lean patch this season but stroked 87 to help the Volts reach 287 at the University of Otago Oval yesterday.
He was out in the last hour of play trying to scoop the ball.
But before he missed and was adjudged lbw, he had batted for nearly four hours and helped the home side close the gap on Wellington’s first innings total of 368.
The Firebirds were 27 without loss at stumps.
They lead by 108 runs, which is a useful buffer with two days remaining.
Dale’s older brother Glenn Phillips has had a mixed game so far.
He clobbered 61 from 67 and shared in a 41-run stand with Dale.
But he was less impressive at the bowling crease.
Hamish Rutherford made 52 at the top of the Volts innings before falling victim to Rachin Ravindra.
The left arm spinner grabbed two more wickets at the end of Otago’s innings to finish with three for 19.
But Dale Phillips stole the day.
He has scored more than 50 just once this season and must have felt some pressure about his place in the side.
The selectors kept faith and he delivered with a quality knock. He likes to play his shots and dispatched a couple of lofted sixes down the ground.
But for the most part, he was happy to wait for the bad ball to come along.
His dismissal was arguably a product of batting with the tail. He looked to innovate with a scoop shot but missed, falling 13 short of what would have been his fourth first-class hundred.
On Saturday, Wellington openers Luke Georgeson (61) and Ravindra (33) laid a stable base, and former Otago player Nick Kelly swatted 10 fours in a hard-hit 60.
The Volts rallied with a couple of quick wickets.
But debutant Muhammad Abbas and another former Otago player Nathan Smith combined in a damaging 101 stand from 116 balls.
Abbas blasted part-time spinner Glenn Phillips for six fours and two sixes in an onslaught the Volts let go on too long.
The dashing right-hander clubbed 79 from 86 balls and 46 of those runs came off Glenn Phillips.
Michael Rippon got collared for a couple of sixes and a boundary as well. But Rippon eventually snaffled his wicket when Abbas skied a slog sweep.
But with Smith humming along at a good clip as well, it was a costly period for the Volts.
Smith collected most of his 73 runs against the seamers. Jacob Duffy got deposited down the ground for some glorious drives.
By the time Smith cut on the up and was caught out, Wellington had gone past 350 and were nicely placed at 368 for nine at stumps on day one.
The Firebirds could not add to their score yesterday.
Duffy picked up the wicket of No 11 Kieran McComb to finish with four for 92.
Travis Muller was arguably the best of the Volts bowlers with one for 43. He trapped boundary-hitter Finn Allen lbw for three.
Plunket Shield
Wellington
L Georgeson c Muller b Duffy 61
R Ravindra c Rippon b McKay 33
T Johnson c G Phillips b Duffy 13
N Kelly c DN Phillips b Rippon 60
F Allen lbw b Muller 3
M Abbas c Gibson b Rippon 79
N Smith c Rippon b McKay 73
L van Beek c Rippon b Duffy 10
C McLachlan not out 27
I McPeake b Foxcroft 0
K McComb c McKay b Duffy 0
Extras (1b, 6lb, 2wd):9
Total (all out, 96.4 overs): 368
Fall: 1-45, 2-58, 3-163, 4-166, 5-189, 6-290, 7-326, 8-365, 9-366, 10-368.
Bowling: J Duffy 21.4-5-92-4 (1wd), T Muller 21-6-43-1, J McKay 18-6-66-2 (1wd), J Gibson 13-5-33-0, M Rippon 13-1-66-2, G Phillips 7-0-58-0, D Foxcroft 3-1-3-1.
Otago
H Rutherford lbw b Ravindra 52
T Parkes c Johnson b van Beek 5
D Foxcroft c Allen b Smith 4
G Phillips c Ravindra b Smith 61
D Phillips lbw b Georgeson 87
J Gibson c sub (Younghusband) b McComb 37
M Rippon c Kelly b McComb 14
M Chu b Georgeson 11
T Muller b Ravindra 2
J Duffy lbw b Ravindra 0
J McKay not out 0
Extras (lb 3, w 2, nb 9): 14
Total (all out, 80 overs):287
Fall: 1-6, 2-11, 3-108, 4-149, 5-229, 6-262, 7-276, 8-281, 9-287, 10-287.
Bowling: N Smith 14-2-50-2 (1w, 9nb), L van Beek 19-2-79-1 (1wd), I McPeake 5-0-30-0, R Ravindra 9-2-19-3, M Abbas 6-0-29-0, L Georgeson 12-3-26-2, K McComb 15-3-51-2.
Wellington
2nd innings
L Georgeson not out 13
R Ravindra not out 14
Extras: 0
Total (without loss in 12 overs): 27
Bowling: J Duffy 3-1-13-0, T Muller 4-2-4-0, D Foxcroft 3-0-4-0, G Phillips 2-1-6-0.
