World Cup: Glenn Maxwell fires, Australia are title-contenders again | Cricket-world-cup News

It takes one day. So goes the promotional campaign for the World Cup.However, on Wednesday, it took Glenn Maxwell just 42 balls to potentially change the course of Australia’s fortunes in this tournament, as the fastest hundred in the hory of the World Cup set up a 309-run annihilation of the Dutch, the largest victory margin ever in the competition. With matches against India and South Africa out of the way already, they consolidated their hold over fourth spot and on current form, look a good bet for the semifinals.
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Two successive wins had got the Aussie campaign somewhat back on track, but the absence of late-order ballast was a shortcoming they needed to address, as Mitchell Marsh had said on the eve of their match against the Netherlands in the capital. They had faltered after a 250-run-plus opening partnership against Pakan, not optimising their death overs. It seemed to be going in a similar direction against the Dutch, as Australia suffered a mini-collapse from 244/2 after 36 overs to 290/6 in the 43rd over.
With all other recognised batsmen back in the pavilion and Maxwell being more miss than hit with the bat lately, the five-time champions were in danger of being bowled out well within the 50 overs for somewhere around 320. It would, most likely, have been enough for their third win on the bounce, given the gulf in experience and class between the two teams, but wouldn’t have silenced the doubters about their lower-middle order.

South Africa have been the only team so far to have put on the after-burners in the final 10 overs, with Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Aiden Markram doing full justice to the platform set their top order. That was before Maxwell got amongst the Dutch and took them to 399/8. It helped that the underdogs didn’t have anyone who could hurry him with extra pace. What he did in the final phase of the innings put to shade a 91-ball hundred David Warner, his second successive ton in the tournament and sixth overall in World Cups, now just one behind Rohit Sharma’s record.
As many as 131 runs came in the final 10 overs, the partnership worth 103 between Maxwell and Pat Cummins coming in only 43 balls with the contribution of the Aussie captain being a mere eight.
“That was crazy. Thought we both contributed equally in that 100-run partnership,” Cummins joked after the game.
The Dutch bowling didn’t hold any terrors on a batting-friendly wicket and once Warner set his stall to play a long innings – apart from a run-out scare while batting with Steve Smith – it seemed rather inevitable that the left-hander would get to three figures. It was also a useful outing for Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, short of runs till now. It may have been only the Netherlands, but the time spent in the middle and the half-centuries scored may reap dividends at the business end of the competition.
Dutch disaster
The onslaught left the Netherlands shell-shocked, and it was evident when they came out to bat. A flurry of early boundaries from Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd was followed a procession that stopped only when they were bowled out for 90 in 21 overs. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa helped himself to a four-wicket haul, conceding just 8 runs in three overs.
“Just about the complete game. Couldn’t be happier,” Cummins gushed.
But the game was decided well before the Netherlands came out to bat. While Warner batted like he was expected to, the Dutch had the misfortune of facing Maxwell in his unstoppable avatar. Bas de Leede may have nightmares about his afternoon at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, suffering the most expensive spell in ODI hory, conceding 115 runs in his 10 overs, 28 in his last, the penultimate one in the Aussie innings.
An Aussie side hitting its stride as the World Cup enters the decisive phase is a warning to the other contenders. Though they may not have the aura of some of the champion sides of yore, they can almost always be relied upon to bring their best game to the big occasion. It usually takes a special effort to beat an Australian side that has the bit between its teeth.

Warner had started the tournament slowly before smashing 163 against Pakan. The opener is winding down his career, and looks keen to make every remaining outing count. He got into his stride hitting off-spinner Aryan Dutt for four consecutive boundaries in the second over of the innings, all of them versions of the cut shot, finding the gaps on either side of the point fielder with surgical precision.Most Read
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After Marsh perished to an ugly hoick relatively early, Smith – who had had a long net session the day before the game, taking throwdowns for more than an hour – showed his fluent self as the Dutch bowlers helped him providing deliveries to hit through the legside.
Labuschagne, who has not been the quickest of scorers, also managed a half-century in 42 balls, showing some deft touch and innovation. Whether that will be enough for him to keep his spot in the XI once Travis Head returns remains to be seen.
Labuschagne’s dismissal started an Aussie slide in which they lost four wickets for 46 runs, which may have raised some concerns in their dressing room, until Maxwell made his memorable intervention, after which they could be counted among genuine title-contenders once again.