Glenn Phillips brings out the switch cover drive

Kevin Pietersen brought the switch-hit to global attention a decade ago, and others including David Warner and Glenn Maxwell have since made it an essential part of their shotmaking armoury. Now New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips has taken the shot into what could be previously unexplored territory, literally.

Usually, batters switch hands and pull or sweep the ball into the area they have turned into the "leg" side of the field. Playing for Otago against Central Districts in the Super Smash, Phillips went the opposite way against offspinner Dean Foxcroft.

Batting in the 19th over, Phillips switched from his usual right-handed stance to a left-handed one with the bowler midway through his run-up. Foxcroft landed this ball outside what was now the left-hander's off stump. Phillips sent the ball to the boundary with a shot that could be described as a full-blooded switch cover drive.

Then, facing the fifth ball of the 20th over, Phillips went a step further, taking stance as a left-hand batter against left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox. Warner, notably, has done this on occasion, switching hands even before the bowler begins his run-up, but even he may not have pulled off what followed.

Central Districts pushed what was now the leg-side field back, and Lennox, bowling from left-arm around, angled the ball across Phillips, looking to land well away from his hitting arc. Reaching out, Phillips managed to get enough contact on a lofted drive to clear the extra-cover boundary.

Phillips finished on an unbeaten 90 off 48 balls, and was named Player of the Match in Otago's 41-run win. He hit seven fours and four sixes in all - one of which landed on the stadium roof and forced the umpires to call for a replacement ball.

"I have done it for a little while in the nets, but never quite brought it out,'' Phillips said of his switch cover drives during an interview with TVNZ. "Obviously it is a little bit of an interesting thing, the switch-around in a game of professional cricket … the other day I was stroking it better in the nets when I was left-handed than when I was right-handed.

"So it sort of made sense to at least try and bring it out when there was nothing left to lose.''

The switch-hit has been a controversial shot in cricket because it allows batters to manipulate fielding set-ups. The MCC ruled the shot legal in 2008.

Phillips, who has played 17 Tests, 44 ODIs and 83 T20Is for New Zealand, often goes viral on social media for his unorthodox shots, which include everything from his new switch cover drive to the more "traditional" reverse pulls he has made routine.