Maxwell's knock took Australia to the win with one ball left
Glenn Maxwell had a terrible run in the T20Is off late, scoring just two 30-plus scores from 19 innings since February last year.
Even though he hit a hundred for Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket (MLC), his lean run with the bat was a concern for Australia as Maxwell scored five single-digit scores from the six matches he played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for Punjab Kings.
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140/3
139/9
Amaravati Royals beat Simhadri Vizag Lions by 7 wickets
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22/3
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171/4
69/7
Singapore Womens beat Cambodia Women by 102 runs
33/2
32/8
Singapore Womens beat Cambodia Women by 8 wickets
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61/2
138/8
West Delhi Lions beat New Delhi Tigers by 15 runs (D/L) method
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200/5
198/2
Sweden beat Hungary by 5 wickets
128/5
129/1
Norway beat Hungary by 9 wickets
149/8
150/8
Sweden beat Norway by 2 wickets
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80/5
79/3
Jinx Zagreb Women beat Lavender Lionesses Women by 5 wickets
104/5
82/4
Jinx Zagreb Women beat Lavender Lionesses Women by 22 runs
87/1
86/3
Jinx Zagreb Women beat Lavender Lionesses Women by 9 wickets
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3/1
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Match Called off
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127/5
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172/6
173/0
Muscat Thunderers beat Majees Titans by 10 wickets
90/4
191/6
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189/4
166/8
SLC Greens beat SLC Greys by 23 runs
173/8
172/7
Australia beat South Africa by 2 wickets
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106/10
109/4
Southern Brave Women beat Trent Rockets Women by 6 wickets
136/5
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107/1
106/9
Melbourne Renegades Academy beat Australian Capital Territory by 9 wickets
231/4
227/3
Melbourne Stars Academy beat Hobart Hurricanes Academy by 6 wickets
111/10
114/8
Perth Scorchers Academy beat Pakistan Shaheens by 2 wickets
186/6
154/7
Bangladesh A beat Nepal by 32 runs
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Against South Africa, however, Maxwell was excellent with the ball and sharp in the field as he claimed the all-important wicket of Ryan Rickleton in the first T20I in Darwin.
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He finally ended his torrid run with the bat with a match and series-winning 62 not out off 36 balls which he finished off with a boundary in the last over.
Australia were chasing 173 and kept losing wickets at one end when Maxwell held firm at one end and guided them to a two-wicket victory.
The series was poised at 1-1 after the first two T20Is in Darwin as both arrived in Cairns which never hosted a T20I.
Dewald Brevis continued his superb form across all formats with brisk 53 off 26 balls as South Africa posted 172/7 in 20 overs with Nathan Ellis (3-31) and Josh Hazlewood (2-30) pulling things back for the hosts at regular intervals.
In chase of a decent total, the Aussies had captain Mitchell Marsh at the top with a solid 54 off 37 balls before Maxwell guided them to victory.
Australia looked set for an easy victory with four wickets in hand needing 10 runs from 10 balls when Cobrin Bosch removed Ben Dwarshius and Nathan Ellis off consecutive balls. Bosch gave away just two runs off the 19th over before Maxwell ended things calmly with a double and two boundaries in the final over.
With four required off the last two balls against Lungi Ngidi, Maxwell played a switch hit that looped over the fielder at gully and hit the ropes.
Maxwell marked the victory by recreating late Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota’s ‘Smash’ celebration.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru had given up on Maxwell in IPL 2025 auction as he was bought by Punjab Kings and played only six matches in the season. His dwindling form led to the Shreyas Iyer-side benching him and eventually replacing him with countryman Mitchell Owen.