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 'Stay In The Hunt' - Maxwell Reveals Strategy Behind His Match-Winning Century vs IND

image-lpin2e53Glenn Maxwell put on a show for the fans in Guwahati (Twitter)

Australia clinched a five-wicket victory in the third T20I of the five-match series against India in Guwahati on Tuesday. The win that has kept the Aussies alive in the series was possible largely due to Glenn Maxwell's remarkable ton.

Maxwell opens up on his ton and Australia's last-gasp efforts in thrilling win

Despite India setting a challenging target of 223, courtesy of Ruturaj Gaikwad's 123 off 57 balls, Australia's chase was dominated by Maxwell. While his teammates struggled to keep pace, Maxwell's aggressive batting kept Australia in the hunt.

He ended the match spectacularly, hitting a six and three fours in the final over, securing an unbeaten 104 off 48 balls. Australian captain Matthew Wade, although slow to start, eventually supported Maxwell's assault with a brisk 28 off 16 balls. The all-rounder's exceptional innings overshadowed India's earlier batting feats, including a massive 30-run final over bowled by Maxwell himself.

After the game, Maxwell reflected upon his knock and the thrilling win during the post-match presentation. He reflected on the rapid progression of the game, noting that the dew made it challenging to bowl effectively. 

The 35-year-old mentioned that there wasn't a specific target they aimed for in the final stages, but the focus was to stay in contention until the last over, hoping to capitalize on good hits.

"It all went pretty quickly, actually. I think once the dew obviously affects the ball and makes it difficult to hold onto. We knew that it was going to be hard work to bowl Yorkers, and there probably wasn't a number, I think, at the back end that we sort of set ourselves to. But we just thought if we could sort of stay in the hunt for at least until the last over and give ourselves a chance, you never know. If we get a couple out of the middle, we might stay in the game. And we did really well just to keep ourselves in the game until the final over,” said Maxwell.



Maxwell further acknowledged the importance of Wade's presence, especially against Axar Patel's remaining over, praising his captain for excellently exploiting the left-arm spinner. 

The attacking batter revealed that he himself aimed to tackle the pace bowlers, admitting he faced some difficulties initially. However, he credited Wade's control at the other end for helping him through the latter part of his innings.

“I think knowing that Axar had one over left was I think it obviously meant that Wadey had to be out there to make sure that to cash in on the left-arm spinner and he played that role really well. I was trying to take on the pace bowlers and try and I suppose get the run rate under a little bit more control. Struggled a little bit for a couple of overs there, but the way that Wadey controlled the other end sort of got me through the back end of my, and yeah, he was brilliant out there," concluded the Victoria-born cricketer.