Maxwell dominated the Netherlands’ bowling attack on October 25 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
He set a new record for the fastest World Cup century, surpassing the previous record held by South Africa’s Aiden Markram, which had stood for just 18 days.
His thrilling knock of 106 of only 44 balls broke the earlier record by SA’s Aiden Markram, who had taken 49 balls to get his century 18 days back.
More than Australia scored 399/8, this inning alone left the fans and the cricket analysts speechless.
Huge Australia Total Is Built on Warner Laying
Australia opted to bat, and despite losing an early test wicket, David Warner came back good by scoring yet another hundred in the tournament.
Warner scored 71 and got good contributions from Steve Smith, who scored 71, and Marnus Labusche, who scored 62, setting the stage for Maxwell’s big hit in the death overs.
In sixth place, Maxwell not only attacked the innings, he changed it.
He brought up his sparkling hundred from 120 deliveries and contained nine fours and eight sixes to take Australia to the massive score of 399 for the loss of wickets.
The Australian batter was particularly brutally on the Dutch bowlers especially Bas de Leede who went on a record-breaking spree with the ball that saw him concede 115 runs, the most by a single bowler in ODIs.
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How Maxwell’s Methodical Approach Made History
It was not that Maxwell lacked explosive elements in his innings, but he was very much planned. Mohammad Yusuf reached his half-century in 27 balls, and he timed his innings before stepping on the gas and took just 13 balls to reach his hundred.
Maxwell then demonstrated a variety of deliveries, including switch-hits and big hits to the small side of the ground in Delhi.
Batting at 242 plus strike rate it still showed that he was never reckless in his shot selection but got the right balance of hitting out when he had to.
The feeling that swept over Maxwell after completing his 40-ball century turned into the definition of modern-style ODI cricket skills.
Ganguly can be hailed as the hero of heroes of this particular edition of the World Cup through this particular stroke, which went a long way in rewriting the script of batting in the World Cup.
References:
ESPN.com
HindustanTimes.com
