The new Otago recruit clipped his eighth first-class century and first for Otago as Canterbury pushed for victory at the University Oval yesterday.
Another test hopeful Henry Shipley (three for 51) nabbed a couple of quick wickets to set up a potentially tense finish.
Most of the drama was stymied by poor weather. The game eventually ground to an end with Otago 304 for eight.
Max Chu stonewalled with 45 from 87 to help make the match safe.
But it was Phillips who did the heavy lifting with a knock of 147. The Volts resumed on 145 for two with the right-hander on 66 and Thorn Parkes undefeated on 53.
The weather delay at the start of the day had basically stripped away the option of chasing down the victory target of 471 as well.
Survival became the priority and that made Canterbury’s job of taking eight wickets all that more difficult.
Difficult is not impossible, though.
Glenn Phillips, whose only test was against Australia in 2020, made steady progress towards his hundred, despite losing batting partners regularly.
He crunched two drives off William O’Rourke to bring up the mark in style.
The 26-year-old posted a good double of 47 and 61 against Wellington in the last game.
He dialled back his usual aggression to help secure the draw and post a new career high score.
The former Aucklander bowled a lot of overs in the game as well. He is looking to develop that side of his game to improve his selection prospects.
His off-spin is still a work in progress, but he nabbed three wickets in the match.
The lanky figure of Shipley caused some anxiety in the Volts’ camp when he removed Jake Gibson and Michael Rippon in quick succession.
He had trapped Hamish Rutherford earlier in the innings.
Canterbury
First innings 449/9 dec
Second innings 277/3
Otago
First innings 256
Second innings
H Rutherford lbw b Shipley 8
T Parkes b Sodhi 61
D Foxcroft c Sheat b McKenzie 15
G Phillips c Fletcher b O’Rourke 147
D Phillips lbw b Sodhi 11
J Gibson c Fletcher b Shipley 1
M Rippon lbw b Shipley 0
M Chu lbw b Sodhi 45
T Muller not out 0
J Duffy not out 4
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 2, nb 8) 12
Total (8 wickets, 110.3 overs) 304
Fall: 1-14, 2-35, 3-160, 4-191, 5-196, 6-206,
7-284, 8-299.
Bowling: H Shipley 20.3-5-51-3, F Sheat
11-3-24-0, A McKenzie 21-10-39-1, W
O’Rourke 16-4-47-1 (1w, 1nb), E Nuttall
8.5-0-48-0 (1w, 3nb), I Sodhi 29.1-4-87-3
(4nb), C McConchie 4-2-6-0.
Result: Draw.
