OTD | Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball hundred was the reason for Australia’s 309-run win over Netherlands in ODI World Cup 2023 

On this day,  Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball hundred powered Australia to a 309-run win over the Netherlands. Australia started their ODI World Cup 2023 with two successive losses that saw them being placed bottom of the table. At that stage many felt that the five-time world cup winners were just a game away from elimination from the tournament. in the end Pat Cummins and his side didn’t lose any game and went to beat India in the finals to win their 6th ODI World Cup title. 

After losses to India and South Africa, the Aussies came back to beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Their fifth game in the tournament was against Netherlands which was played at the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi. 

Australia batted first and scored a massive 399 on the board. Mitchell Marsh was the first man out for 9. David Warner and Steve Smith then added 132 runs for the 2nd wicket with Warner scoring a century. Steve Smith was out after scoring 71 while Marnus Labuschagne scored 62 off 47 balls. 

 Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball hundred blows Netherlands away 

Coming into bat well past the 40th over, Glenn Maxwell went after the Dutch bowlers right from the word go. The veteran star displayed amazing touch and brute strength as he smashed his 50 off just 27 balls with five fours and 2 sixes. More carnage was set to follow as Maxwell wasn’t in a mood to stop. 

The Dutch bowlers and fielders could look at the sky as the balls went flying with Maxwell putting on a strong. It took the Victorian just 13 more balls to reach his next fifty to record the fastest ever century in the ODI World Cup format. By the time his innings ended, Maxwell was out for 106 off 44 balls with 9 fours and 8 huge sixes. 

Netherlands chasing 400 to win were all out for 90 in 21 overs. Only four batters reached double figures. Adam Zampa was the best bowler for Australia with 4/8 from his 3 overs as Marsh picked while Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood picked a wicket each. 

At the end of the game, Maxwell who was given the player of the match said “I was just trying to give ourselves a good platform at the end. You can certainly cash in on this ground with a bat (batting first towards the end) and it seems under lights. Nice to get some rhythm finally in the tournament. Huge confidence booster. Some doubts do creep in when you are consistently not making runs. Hopefully I can ride forward from this. Pretty much the perfect game with bat and ball for us. Three wins now and certainly starting to get that momentum as a team” 

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