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Maxwell Madness Overpowers Brevis Blitz As Australia Clinch T20I Series With Thrilling Win

Aakash Saini

Glenn Maxwell during Australia's run-chase [Source: AFP]Glenn Maxwell during Australia's run-chase [Source: AFP]

Australia pulled off a last-over thriller against South Africa in the series-decider. Glenn Maxwell lit up the high-scoring evening with a cracking run-chase special after top-order pyro techniques from captain Mitchell Marsh.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights of the third T20I of the three-match series, as it panned out at the Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns on Saturday, August 16.

Dewald Brevis Counters Ellis, Zampa To Shoot SA Up To 172

Josh Hazlewood jolted South Africa early with the wicket of captain Aiden Markram in the first over. Ryan Rickelton (13) and number three Lhuan-dre Pretorious (24 off 15) failed to make the most of their starts as they were dismissed by Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis respectively. Tottering at 49-3, Dewald Brevis counterattacked the Australians with a fiery 26-ball 53, launching a boundary and six huge sixes in his innings.

Tristan Stubbs (25) and unbeaten Rassie van der Dussen (38* off 26) also chipped in with handy runs as South Africa charted 172-7 from 20 overs. For Australia, Nathan Ellis toppled Brevis and Senuran Muthusamy following his early breakthrough to finish with 3-31. Senior men Hazlewood and Zampa picked up two wickets each in their four-over spells.

Glenn Maxwell Douses South Africa In Dramatic Finish

Australian captain and opener Mitchell Marsh launched his team off to a flier as they raced to 66-0 in less than eight overs. South Africa fought back with four quick wickets, including that of half-centurion Marsh (54 off 37) as the hosts slipped from 66-0 to 88-4 in the space of just 17 balls.

In-form Tim David and Aaron Hardie also fell in quick succession to Kagiso Rabada (2-32) as Australia stared down the barrel at 122-6 in 14 overs. Glenn Maxwell at number six single-handedly kept the Australian chase alive, mostly while batting with the lower-order. 

Combating Kwena Maphaka (2-36) and Corbin Bosch’s (3-26) wicket-taking threat, Maxwell smeared two sixes and eight boundaries, including one off an audacious reverse off the penultimate ball to notch up the winning runs for Australia with two wickets in hand.