(From ABC)
With the tennis starting across the road Monday, it is appropriate that Australia’s four-wicket win in the penultimate over at the MCG Sunday night was defined by a combination of unforced errors from their opponent and aces up the middle from their biggest weapon.
On Friday night in Brisbane, Glenn Maxwell had a bit-role at the death of the chase, an unbeaten but altogether unremarkable cameo after the hard work had been taken care of by those further up the order. That wasn’t the case this evening when entering with exactly half the work to do and less than half the time to do it.
Maxwell needed to combine his innovative best with utmost patience, especially when middle order wickets started falling around him. His 96 off 83 balls in knocking off India’s 6 for 295 did precisely that.
How do you back away to the leg-side and slice spin over the longest rope at the MCG over point? It doesn’t matter how, because he did. His first boundary was reverse swept, because that’s what he does as well. Maxwell found gaps through the offside that don’t exist for others, and put away any trash through the leg-side with a minimum of risk.
It is said of the women’s game that the first step to enjoying it is understanding that it can’t be directly compared to the men’s. It’s fundamentally different. The same applies to Maxwell. Once you overcome that hurdle that he isn’t like normal people, the pleasure derived from watching him play is boundless. Read More