During Glenn Maxwell’s presence on the ground yesterday, he marked a monumental return to form, sent Sri Lanka into freefall, and stole their T20I world record from under their noses.
According to the scorecard, he hit nine sixes in his 65-ball 145 not out, but it felt like he had hit many more. There were 14 fours in this Maxwell mauling, but so quickly did they come, one after the other, that who is to tell that one boundary ended and another began? It was a blur of sweeps, of gallows down the ground, and occasionally, of enterprising strokes behind the wicket. Australia made 263 for 3. This is the joint highest T20 score .
Maxwell had opened the innings in place of the injured Finch, and he quickly set about knocking Sri Lanka’s bowlers out of shape. By the end of the powerplay, Australia had hit 73 for 1. Errors bred further errors in the outfield . In the 18th over a catch was dropped, though it was of Travis Head, who was the second highest scorer with 45 of 18 balls .
Thus Australia cantered to win after a record 263. Each of Sri Lanka’s four main main bowlers conceded atleast 12.75 runs per over .
