An unstoppable Glenn Maxwell equaled Rohit Sharma with a record fifth T20I century as Australia wrapped up the series after a comfortable victory over West Indies at the Adelaide Oval. Glenn Maxwell flattened a full-strength West Indies in perfect batting conditions with eight sixes and his unbeaten 120 runs off 55 balls was the second highest T20I score for a batter at No.4 or lower. Australia’s 241 for 4 was their highest on home soil and proved well beyond the reach of West Indies despite an attractive 63 from 36 balls from skipper Rovman Powell.
Marcus Stoinis claimed three wickets, while left-arm quick Spencer Johnson, in his first home international, took 2 for 39 as Australia clinched the series following their 11-run game one victory at Bellerive Oval. There was late controversy when Alzarri Joseph was short of his ground attempting a tight single, but he remained at the crease after umpire Gerard Abood said there had been no appeal. Tim David insisted he had appealed as Australia remonstrated in heated scenes, but the incident ultimately didn’t affect the match’s outcome.
Glenn Maxwell smashed his way to an unbeaten 55-ball 120, a record-equalling fifth century in the format as Australia beat West Indies by 34 runs in the second T20I at the Adelaide Oval. The series has effectively started T20 World Cup preparations for both teams with the third and final game to be played in Perth on Tuesday.
Pitch and Toss
The Adelaide Oval is widely regarded as the premier batting wicket in Australia. During the initial stages, it offers a consistently flat playing surface. However, as the match progresses, it comes to life, allowing spinners to make an impact. Since 2013, Adelaide has been the venue for drop-in pitches, marking a significant change in the playing conditions at the iconic stadium.
Australia will be seeking a series win when they clash against West Indies in the second T20I match at Adelaide Oval. Australia clinched a thrilling 11-run win in the first game to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series.
After a whitewash in ODIs, the hosts posted 213 while batting first in the first T20I. David Warner shone on his return to international scenes with 70 off 36 balls and then in-form Adam Zampa took three wickets to restrict the Caribbean side to 202/8.
West Indies will enter this game with some confidence with the unchanged team as they almost pulled off a mammoth chase in Hobart. Australia will be boosted by Spencer Johnson’s inclusion for the second game and have lost only once in their last five T20 encounters against West Indies.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted to field.
Mitchell Marsh dominates powerplay before Glenn Maxwell’s magic
Australia got off to a bumpy start after being put into bat as Josh Inglis fell early after a scratchy start to his innings. However, skipper Mitchell Marsh set the tone with an ultra-aggressive cameo to create momentum into the innings. David Warner played second fiddle to his captain as the partnership flourished but the pair fell in the space of eight deliveries to give West Indies some respite.
Josh Inglis started well in Hobart to kick-start the race over who will partner opener David Warner at the T20 World Cup. He hit 39 off 25 balls in the series-opener but couldn’t back up and fell for 4 in the second over. The dismissal brought captain Mitchell Marsh to the crease, who did not bat in the powerplay in game one and played having tested positive to Covid-19. He was feeling better and relished batting in the powerplay by blasting 29 off 12 balls.
He smashed a first-ball boundary before unfurling his power with a six over backward point and another over the legside boundary. Attempting to maximize the powerplay, Marsh holed out in the sixth over and Australia soon fell to 64 for 3 when Warner was dismissed in the next over giving West Indies some hope to squeeze the Australian middle order . But Glenn Maxwell was in for a special show on display today for the crowds.
The ‘Big Show’ Glenn Maxwell puts on another freak show of entertaining batting as Australia posts record 241 at Adelaide Oval
Glenn Maxwell started slowly and should have been run out on 10 when wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran missed a shy at the stumps. He capitalized on the next delivery with an incredible sliced six over cover point off Romario Shepherd to ignite his innings. Glenn Maxwell completely dominated a half-century partnership with Stoinis and targeted Powell with a trio of boundaries, including a clever reverse sweep.
He raced to his half-century off 25 balls before producing another inventive stroke with a switch hit for six off left-arm spinner Akeal Hossein. Maxwell notched an incredible century off 50 balls in the penultimate over of the innings to reach a second T20I ton in his last three innings.
On a good batting surface with short square boundaries, the carnage was only about to start, Glenn Maxwell took a few balls to get in before hitting top gear. Such was the level of Maxwell’s dominance that his 82-run stand with Marcus Stoinis had the latter contributing just 16 of those. Tim David (31* off 14) then combined for an unbroken 95-run stand as Australia raced away to a daunting total.
All of Maxwell’s trademark strokes were on display – the loft over cover, slice over backward point mixed with the occasional switch-hits and reverse sweeps. One outrageous reverse-pull against Akeal Hossein was the jaw-dropping shot of the lot.
Joseph bowls rapidly, but West Indies fall away the Maxwell storm.
Despite his attack conceding 213 for 7 at Bellerive Oval, Powell again decided to bowl but he bafflingly stuck first up with Hossein who was hit for six on the second delivery by a reverse swat from Warner.
But their seamers had much better success against Warner, who had blasted 70 off 36 balls in Hobart, as they bowled a straighter line with Joseph producing swing and hitting speeds close to 150 kmh. A frustrated Warner groaned loudly when he fell to a slower Shepherd delivery, but West Indies were then monstered by Maxwell.
With Maxwell in a mood, West Indies were made to look helpless and there probably wasn’t a lot they could do. But some of their tactics were head-scratching, including often not having a third man despite their strategy of bowling wide yorkers. Australia posted a humungous 241 for 4 at end of 20 overs and gave West Indies a daunting task to chase this target and level the series 1-1.
West Indies lose the plot early as hometown hero Spencer Johnson impresses
For West Indies to make a game of this, they needed a near-perfect run chase but that wasn’t to be. Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran got brisk starts after Brandon King’s early dismissal but both fell along with Shai Hope within the powerplay to further Australia’s dominance. From then on, it was only about the margin of victory as West Indies’ chances of getting anywhere close was near impossible. Even with the extreme batting conditions and boundary dimensions on offer.
West Indies, of course, came out swinging and smashed 42 off the first over fours. That was despite Josh Hazlewood delivering a wicket-maiden in the second over as left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff tough series continued with his first two overs costing 31 runs.
Spencer Johnson entered the attack in the fifth over and immediately started with a 143 kmh short delivery. Two balls later he had Pooran spooning to midwicket before nicking off Sherfane Rutherford with a line and length delivery that was more reminiscent of the longer formats.
Having debuted for Australia late last year and then starring for BBL champions Brisbane Heat, Spencer Johnson is a bowler of considerable interest across formats and he might be in the frame for a T20 World Cup spot.
Powell and Russell entertain briefly for damage control. Andre Russell’s power hitting in vain
Andre Russell had only played one T20I in Australia before the series. He had been a fan favorite in the country due to the BBL, but only faced two deliveries in Hobart.
Coming to the crease with West Indies at a forlorn 63 for 5, Russell started with three boundaries off Johnson. With no helmet or cap, he whacked leg spinner Adam Zampa for six over deep midwicket before clubbing a short delivery from Stoinis into the second tier. But he succumbed to the short delivery later in the over to end an entertaining 37 off 16 balls. An overshadowed Powell then took over, but West Indies never threatened.
Powell and Russell showed their power-hitting skills with some brutal hitting but the task at hand was a bridge too far even for them. Their knocks along with Holder’s cameo at the end made the game seem like a closer contest than it actually was. Australia’s bowlers on their part did well to ensure that batters were forced to hit down the ground where the dimensions were longer as opposed to the short square boundaries. All of them were among the wickets with Marcus Stoinis being the most successful of the lot.
Australia comfortably won the match by 34 runs and took unassailable 2-0 lead over the full fledged West Indian side who somehow as a unit failed to connect together against belligerent Australians.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Mitchell Marsh said :
“I thought it was a great game, think 220 was par, so needed every bit of that 240. (Maxwell) has always done it, he’s unbelievable. We are incredibly lucky to have Maxwell. Think we’ve played some really good T20 cricket over the last six months. Thought there were key moments in the innings we won. They bat down to ten and are a formidable team,”
Rovman Powell said :
“The boys showed courage, but we kept losing wickets. Failed to get the big partnerships, but the Australian bowlers bowled well, credit to them. You got to have wickets in such run chases. You get really close in such chases, or you lose bad. The wicket is good and their batters had good skill. 240 runs in a T20 is a lot of runs. 2-1 series is better than 3-0. It’s going to take a greater effort from each one of us,”
Glenn Maxwell Man of the Match for his record equalling century said :
“Didn’t hit the gaps right from the outset. It was such a beautiful pitch. Once I hit a few boundaries, I calmed down. I made a good decision against Akeal when he bowled that inswinger. I was watching the ball, wasn’t trying to hit everything. There were a few miscues. I am comfortable in this format,”
“I am clear about my plans when I am out in the middle. Just need to keep doing the same things. It’s (4th) a nice and difficult position to bat. You can walk in to bat at different scenarios,”
Australia beat West Indies by 34 runs and take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series. This is the fifth consecutive loss for visitors in the limited-over formats on this tour. Having elected to bowl first, West Indies took a few wickets in the powerplay, but Glenn Maxwell played a spectacular knock thereafter as his century powered Australia to a mammoth total of 241/4. As a result of Maxwell’s carnage, Windies were set a huge target and the scoreboard pressure was quite evident during the run chase.
Charles and Pooran hit a few lusty blows in the powerplay, however, they couldn’t convert those brisk starts into anything substantial as WI lost four wickets in the powerplay. Andre Russell and Rovman Powell entertained to an extent, however, with the required run rate out of reach, it was always going to be a matter of time. Stoinis was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as he bagged three wickets for the hosts.
Glenn Maxwell’s century was the highlight of the day. He delivered the knockout punch at the halfway stage itself, and Windies could never recover from that onslaught. The boundaries here are pretty huge, hence defending wasn’t much of a difficult task. A clinical performance by the Aussies at the end of the day and their next target will be to inflict a whitewash in the final T20I of the series. They won the ODI series by a 3-0 margin. Will they clinch the T20I series 3-0 as well at Perth on Tuesday will be the question.