“Close to a perfect game”: Glenn Maxwell after Australia’s 309-run victory over Netherlands

The astonishing innings broke South Africa captain Aiden Markram's record of a century off 49 balls against Sri Lanka at the same stadium 18 days earlier.

New Delhi: Destructive batter Glenn Maxwell was relieved after slamming the fastest century in World Cup history and contributing to Australia’s 309-run thrashing of the Netherlands in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Maxwell was adjudged the Player of the Match for a truly astonishing innings in Delhi. Maxwell lived up to his nickname ‘The Big Show’ with his flamboyant hitting, blasting eight fours and eight sixes in Australia’s 309-run victory over the Netherlands in New Delhi, ending his lean patch in the ongoing tournament in India.

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The astonishing innings broke South Africa captain Aiden Markram’s record of a century off 49 balls against Sri Lanka at the same stadium 18 days earlier.

Australia all-rounder acknowledged he “wasn’t expecting” to score a World Cup record 40-ball century.

“Not something I set out to do. Just the situation of the game. Wanted to put a good platform for the back end and cash in on this ground. The ball can run away quite quickly. Nice to get in rhythm.

Just making good decisions. Give myself a little bit of time and give me a bit of confidence and platform. Huge confidence booster knowing I’ve got that in my locker. Doubts can creep in when not scoring consistently but good to score this,” Maxwell said at the time of the post-match presentation.

“Close to the perfect game if you score 400 and bowl them out for under 100. A lot of guys got to have a hit. We’ve had three really good wins in a row,” he added.

Coming to the match, Glenn Maxwell’s masterclass in Delhi and David Warner’s wonderful century followed by Adam Zampa’s brilliance helped Australia register the highest-ever win by runs in World Cup history, beating Netherlands by 309 runs here at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.

The Aussie side looked in supreme touch as they torched Nethreland with both bat and ball.

The winning margin of 309 runs is the largest ever at a Men’s Cricket World Cup and the second largest ever in ODIs Maxwell scored a masterclass 106 while Warner’s wonderful knock of 104 runs pushed Australia to a mammoth total total of 399 runs.

Adam Zampa was the destructor in chief as he demolished the Dutch batting lineup completely, returning with a figure of 4-8 while Mitchell Marsh scalped two wickets.