Australia had lost its opening two games in the present ODI World Cup, but they recovered magnificently to win three straight games. They were at the bottom of the standings at one time, but they trounced Netherlands by 309 runs on Wednesday, October 25, to guarantee their spot in the top four.
David Warner gave Australia a fantastic start by batting first in Delhi. Steven Smith scored 71 runs as the southpaw hit an amazing century. Getting several runs will give Smith more confidence for the remainder of the competition after he struggled for the most of it. Joining the celebration, Marnus Labuschagne scored 62 runs.
The talking points from the game are as follows:
1. Glenn Maxwell scored the fastest century in ODI World Cup history.
Glenn Maxwell’s performance started towards the tail end of the innings when he hit the fastest century in ODI World Cup history. In just 40 deliveries, the 35-year-old reached his century, and Australia went on to score 399 runs in the first innings.
2. The Netherlands’ batting lineup was completely destroyed by Australian bowlers together.
The Netherlands had a hard time getting going in the chase. Despite a strong start from Vikramjit Singh, the Netherlands finally lost wickets one after another. The fact that every Australian bowler was able to take at least one wicket will also instill great confidence in the team moving forward.
losing skipper Scott Edwards said:
They are a quality side, we should have been better today. Execution (what could have been done better with ball). You miss by fractions and you get out of the park. Full credit to the Aussies. We got back in a bit there with 10 overs to go. Maxwell got going and we couldn’t stop him. Pretty nice wicket here and ball travels so quickly.
Those two (opening batters) were awesome for us for the last 18 months and one of the reasons why we are here so we back them all the way. Just touch on things to improve and move on quickly from this and prepare ourselves for the next game
winning skipper Pat Cummins said:
Really happy, complete game. To put 400 on board and then defend well, couldn’t be happier. Crazy innings. I think we both contributed equally in that hundred partnership (chuckles). Fantastic innings, the cleanest hitting I’ve seen. We played the style we liked to. Please with Smithy getting runs. We were aiming for powerplay wickets, bowled quite well without a lot of luck.
Zamps with another four-fer. They (New Zealand) are a really good side.. Big game in Dharamsala. It’s the World Cup and we are in a good space, can’t wait to get there. (Areas to improve) I don’t think we have totally nailed the 50 overs with the bat yet.
POTM Glenn Maxwell said:
(Fastest WC hundred record) Not something I set out to do. Just situation of the game. Wanted to put a good platform for the back end and cash in on this ground. Ball can run away quite quickly. Nice to get in rhythm. (What clicked) Just making good decisions. Give myself a little bit of time and give myself a bit of confidence and platform.
(Going forward) Huge confidence booster knowing I’ve got that in my locker. Doubts can creep in when not scoring consistently but good to score this. (Clinical?) Close to the perfect game if you score 400 and bowl them out for under 400. Lot of guys got to have a hit. We’ve had three really good wins in a row.
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