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

When in doubt, knock it out is Glenn Maxwell’s mantra. On most days he fails, but on the days that count most, he succeeds for Australia. Tuesday, November 28, 2023 in Guwahati would be one of those days when Mad Max put on its furry show to produce yet another big show on Indian soil to single-handedly win a match and keep the Aussies alive again.

However, unlike that day, he was given no opportunities at all and relied purely on his skills to continue sailing. Coming into bat in the final over of the powerplay with a target of 223 in front of him, Maxwell had no two ways in mind as he immediately set out to chase the big goal: achieving the target and keeping Australia alive , which was 0-2. down in a series of five games.

Maxwell’s magic was on full display as he maximized Parasidh’s Krishna at second and took 23 runs out of it. Having come out cheaply in the last match, it was only fitting that the 35-year-old also had Krishna ahead 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. From 50-100, however, he had the calm spirit of Matthew Wade at his side, who knew his job was to keep Maxwell on strike.

He did so when the RCB man was on his way to 83 off just 39 balls after 17 overs. At that point, the Aussies needed 49 off 18 balls to win the match. Prasidh, however, bowled an excellent over and gave away just six, taking the final two target to 43. Mistakes from Ishan Kishan behind the stumps and with Axar’s ball helped the Aussies reach 22 in the penultimate over without even Maxwell being on strike.

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

— ICC (@ICC) November 28, 2023

Maxwell took advantage of this advantage by going a four towards the backward point and another towards the cow corner on shots that could have gone either way in terms of losing a wicket or getting a boundary. He reached his third T20I hundred, reaching it in just 47 balls, joining former Australian captain Aaron Finch as the fastest to hit a T20I century for the Green and Gold Brigade.