Glenn Maxwell was back at his best in the IPL finally as the Aussie skipper, turning up for Royal Challengers Bangalore, scored a 41-ball 59 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on a patchy surface in Chennai on Wednesday.
During his blitzkrieg of an innings, the batsman dramatically increased a somewhat slow batting run rate in the 11th over when he shot Shahbaz Nadeem for 16 runs in space of three balls. He shot 6, 4, and a 6 in that order at the beginning of the over.
Prior to the 11th over, RCB had 62 runs on the board with Maxwell not out at 9 off 16 deliveries while Kohli was batting at the other end.
Watch: https://www.iplt20.com/video/230288/6-4-6-maxi-special-unfolding-at-chepauk
Maxwell scored 59 off 41 balls laced with five boundaries and three sixes. This is his seventh in the tournament history and his first in IPL since the 2016 season, on May 4, 2016, for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), against Kolkata Knight Riders.
That implies a difference of 1807 days and 40 IPL innings. In terms of matches, it is the fourth-most difference for a player between his two fifty-plus scores. Yusuf Pathan Stands atop with a difference of 49 innings.
Maxwell's 59 helped RCB recover from Rashid Khan's brilliant 2 for 18 that reduced the team to 109 for six in the 17th over. Maxwell scored 26 off 13 balls in the death overs before falling in the final delivery of the innings.
Earlier in the evening, RCB were put to bat first and lost Devdutt Padikkal early but Virat Kohli and Shabaz Ahmed guided the team to 47 for one at the end of PowerPlay before SRH spinners left them wounded. Shahbaz Nadeem picked one wicket and Rashid picked three in the middle overs while being ably assisted by Jason Holder who dismissed the RCB skipper for 39.
