Business Standard

Friday, February 07, 2025 | 08:23 AM ISTEN Hindi

Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

Ind vs Aus: Big show from Maxwell wins thriller for Aussies in Guwahati

Mad Max Glenn Maxwell showcased his fury to produce a Big Show in Guwahati and keep Australia alive by winning yet another match single-handedly and hitting a century on the way

Glenn Maxwell hit joint-fastest T20I century as Australia beat India in the 3rd T20 at Guwahati to keep the five-match series alive. Photo: X

Glenn Maxwell hit joint-fastest T20I century as Australia beat India in the 3rd T20 at Guwahati to keep the five-match series alive. Photo: X

Abhishek Singh New Delhi

Listen to This Article

When in doubt, hit out is the mantra of Glenn Maxwell. On most days he fails, but on days that count the most, he succeeds for Australia. Tuesday, November 28, 2023, in Guwahati, would be one of those days as Mad Max showed his furry to produce yet another Big Show on Indian soil to win a match single-handedly and keep the Aussies alive once again. 

Sending the crowd into a frenzy at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Maxwell reminded them of arguably one of the best ODI knocks that he played only a fortnight ago against Afghanistan at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 
 

However, unlike that day, he did not get any chances at all and relied purely on his skills to sail through. Coming to bat in the last over of the powerplay with a target of 223 in front of himself, Maxwell had no two ways in his mind as he straightaway went for the big goal of reaching the target and keeping Australia alive, who were 0-2 down in a five-match series. 

Maxwell’s magic was on full show as he maximised Parasidh’s Krishna second over to get 23 runs from it. Having got out cheaply in the last match, it was only fitting that the 35-year-old also had Krishna in front of him in the last over when his team needed 21 to win the match. 

Back to the start of his innings, the Victorian reached his fifty in 28 balls with a reverse hit against Arshdeep Singh. From 0-50, Maxwell lost three partners Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David. However, from 50-100, he had Matthew Wade’s cool mind alongside, who knew that his job was to keep Maxwell on strike. 

He did just that as the RCB man made his way to 83 off just 39 balls at the end of 17 overs. At that point, the Aussies needed 49 off 18 balls to win the match. However, Prasidh bowled a superb over and gave away only six to push the target to 43 off the last two. Mistakes from Ishan Kishan behind the stumps and with the ball by Axar helped the Aussies get 22 in the penultimate over without even Maxwell being on strike.

With 21 to get off the last 6, Wade did his job again and got Maxwell on strike with 16 needed off the last four. The man with two T20 international hundred already in his kitty cleared his front leg and hit Krishan for a six on the third ball. India suffered for a slow over rate too and were forced to keep five fielders in the 30-yard circle. 

Maxwell utilised this advantage goit one four towards the backward point and another towards the cow corner on shots which could have gone either way in terms of losing a wicket or getting a boundary. He reached his third hundred T20I hundred, getting there in only 47 balls and thereby joining former Aussie captain Aaron Finch as the fastest to hit T20I century for the Green and Gold brigade.  

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Nov 28 2023 | 11:37 PM IST

Explore News