Australia's Glenn Maxwell scored the fastest century in the ODI World Cup history as he took just 40 balls to reach the three-figure mark while playing against the Netherlands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, October 25. Maxwell shattered South Africa's Aiden Markram's record to scale the milestone.
The 35-year-old Aussie batter toyed with the Dutch bowling attack and ripped it to shreds. His quick-fire knock included as many as nine fours and eight sixes and came at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 240.90. The historic moment came in the 49th over of Australia's innings. Maxwell muscled a chest-high full toss bowled by Bas de Leede and deposited it over fine leg for a maximum to record the fastest ton in the history of the marquee 50-overs tournament.
The Aussie power-hitter was slightly slow at the initial stage of his innings but still managed to score the second-fastest fifty of the ongoing edition as he took 27 balls to get there. Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka scored a 25-ball fifty earlier in the tournament which is the fastest of the ongoing edition thus far.
Watch the six that helped Maxwell scale the historic milestone:
Riding on Maxwell's power-packed performance Australia sailed to a majestic total of 399 for the loss of eight wickets. The swashbuckling batter's historic knock overshadowed his teammate and veteran opener David Warner's century. Warner stood as a rock from the very beginning of Australia's innings and laid a solid foundation up front that served as a launchpad for Maxwell to cash in.
Warner started tentatively but took the Netherlands' bowlers to the cleaners once he got his eye in. He scored 104 off 93 balls, including 11 boundaries and three maximums that comfortably went the distance. Apart from Warner, Steve Smith (71 off 68) and Marnus Labuschagne (62 off 47 balls) scored half-centuries each and contributed to the team's cause.
