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World Cup: How Glenn Maxwell used the reverse switch hit to deflate Netherlands | Cricket-world-cup News

It was not until the 46th over that a semi-decent-capacity New Delhi crowd had truly got their money’s worth.Having seen batting of a vintage class from Australia’s heavyweight top order – half centuries for Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, and a well-paced hundred from David Warner – Glenn Maxwell had begun in a similar vein. It was not until he unfurled his signature shot, depositing a few balls in different areas of the Feroze Shah Kotla, that the audience were up on their feet and roaring.
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One can’t quite call it a reverse sweep, it’s more like a reverse switch. The direction of the bat swing may be reversed, but the quick switch in both stance and grip make it seem like a controlled left-handed shot. It would prove to not only be his trademark but also his confidence booster.

Maxwell had driven his way – both straight and through cover – to a 20-ball 37, before eventually unleashing the switch shot to redirect a Paul van Meekeren full ball over point for four. The floodgates had opened. A six would follow, and two more to Bas de Leede in the next over, both off the switch shot, the second being a hook to a short slower ball in one flowing motion. The slower one deceived, but saw the same result.
37 from 20 had become 60 off 29, and Maxwell would unleash all kinds of carnage from there on to make the fastest century in ODI World Cup hory from 40 balls, stealing the record from South Africa’s Aiden Markram, who made a 49-ball ton on this very ground earlier this month. It was the fourth-fastest ODI century of all time.
The New Delhi crowd was not just enchanted Maxwell’s pinch-hitting on demand, but rather roaring to the tune of a familiar favourite. The 35-year-old Victorian has a long-standing good relationship with India, from his memorable IPL moments and hory to his Indian wife and extended local family.
While Maxwell doesn’t quite share Warner’s affinity to Delhi – his two separate year-long stints with Delhi Capitals are nothing to write home about – and despite having the tailormade skillset to exploit the shorter boundaries around the Kotla, his IPL record here has been less than impressive. But regardless, playing around India has been one of his strengths even at international level. In Australian colours, he has three hundreds and eight fifty-plus scores across formats in the country, and it seemed only a matter of time, just like the five-time champions themselves, that he began firing in this tournament.
Not merely unconventional
Maxwell’s Wednesday night blitz was not just about his unconventional batting strokes. Once the momentum was on his side with those three switch shots, he was not trigger-happy with it – in fact, he went for it only once more, nicking a fortunate inside edge for four.
Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards was wary, doing his best to have third man and deep backward point covered, and the bowlers were conservative with their line and length.Most Read
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The 35-year-old, then, exploited Netherlands’ caution and the pressure on their lacklustre bowling lineup, with a straight bat. Stray wide balls were sliced, fuller balls were lifted over the bowlers’ heads, stray full tosses pulled, and bad balls – of which there were many – were not left unpunished. Only five of his last 13 deliveries were not boundaries, and five of those were sixes.

Maxwell’s shots may point to the much-talked-about influence of T20-slogging into the 50-over game, but it is his intelligent shot selection that made the record-breaking onslaught possible.
De Leede would feel its maximum wrath to notch an embarrassing record, leaking 29 runs, and five boundaries to Maxwell, in the penultimate over of the innings, ending with the most expensive figures in ODI hory after giving 115 runs from his 10-over spell.
Maxwell’s hard-hitting innings will go down as just one of the many feathers in Australia’s cap after a five-star performance with ball and bat. But to have their star finisher – he has a strike rate of over 170 in the final powerplay throughout his ODI career – back among the runs and momentum, in conditions that have suited him in the past, would be a major boost, especially as they look to overturn their shaky start to get back into title contention in India.

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