India skipper Suryakumar Yadav hailed all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for his record-breaking ton against the Men in Blue in the third T20I at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Maxwell’s destructive mood spoiled the party for the Indian team in his 100th T20I game and made it even more special with an unbeaten 104 off 48 balls. He became the joint fastest Australian player to complete a century in the history of T20Is joining Aaron Finch and Josh Inglis.
After the match, Surya sang praises of Maxwell calling his innings “insane” and said, “We just wanted to get Maxi out quickly (laughs), that was the plan. But when you’re defending 222 with so much dew you have to give something to the bowlers. I felt like how we played at Trivandrum, there was heavy dew, they lost wickets early but wickets in hand for them meant they were always in the game. I told the boys in the drinks break to get Maxwell out quickly but that was insane.”
Surya went on to talk about his decision to hand Axar Patel the ball to bowl the crucial 19th over despite heavy dew impacting the performance of the spinner.
“I gave Axar the 19th over because he has bowled the 19th and 20th overs before so he’s experienced as well and I’ve always thought an experienced bowler in the end, even if a spinner, with heavy dew there’s always a chance,” Surya said.
Maxwell’s unbeaten ton overshadowed Ruturaj Gaikwad‘s exceptional display with the bat but Surya didn’t fail to commend his performance and said, “A fantastic knock from Gaikwad, he took the innings deep after I got out. I’ve always said in franchise cricket as well that he’s a special player and the way he batted, he showed it. I’m very proud of my boys.”
Coming to the match, India posted a total of 222/3 with Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring his maiden ton and going unbeaten with a score of 123 off 57 balls.
In reply, after a high-scoring start to the game, wickets tumbled quickly allowing India to take control of the game. Maxwell channelled his inner self that guided Australia to victory against Afghanistan in the World Cup and silenced the Indian bowling line-up with his brute strength.
Back-to-back maximums in Arshdeep’s over was the beginning of the chaos that was about to unfold in the death overs. During the calm before the storm, Suryakumar Yadav dropped Matthew Wade‘s catch.
The final two overs saw Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel combining to concede 45 runs. Prasidh had 21 runs to defend in the final over but Maxwell with his raw hitting power left the speedster with no answers. Australia clinched the victory by five wickets.
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