In his maiden outing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Australia batsman Glenn Maxwell impressed one and all as he scored 39 off 28 balls to guide his IPL team to a thrilling two-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday (April 9).
Maxwell’s knock was laced with 3 fours, 2 sixes and he felt good after hitting a couple of maximums in the IPL 2021 opener.
See Also: I love playing with players like Glenn Maxwell who just want to win, says AB de Villiers
Notably, Maxwell had failed to hit a single six in the 2020 edition of Indian Premier League in UAE. Playing for Punjab Kings (PBKS), he had aggregated only 108 runs with a strike-rate of 101.88 in 13 innings. No wonder, he was not retained by the Punjab-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2021 auction.
"It certainly felt good. I did not hit a single six last year, I did remind Virat of me not hitting a six last year. To hit one out of the middle, it is a bit of monkey of the back. It is nice to start well and to have the captain at the other end, it makes my job a little easier," Maxwell told Harshal Patel in a video posted on the official website of IPL.
Opting to bowl first, RCB restricted the defending champions to 159 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of Harshal Patel’s five-wicket haul (5-27).
In reply, Bangalore rode on AB de Villiers’ blazing 48 off 27 balls to overhaul the target on the last delivery of the game.
"Obviously, it felt great. It was my first fifer ever in T20s, that felt special and this coming against such a good batting lineup, it was cherry on top. The ball started tailing a bit so I wanted to hit them on the toes and if they miss, it will hit the stumps and I knew if they are waiting for the yorkers, my slower balls can be really deceptive. So, I was just trying to mix it up and get as many wickets as I can," Harshal told Maxwell.
"I told AB de Villiers when I got there that I am there with you and we are going to win this game. Obviously, whenever you hit the winning runs, it does not matter whether it is a boundary or a single, it is a special feeling. Great day on the field," he added.
RCB will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their next game on Wednesday (April 14).
