Glenn Maxwell’s massive hitting in BBL 2019-20 bowls over Mark Waugh

Melbourne Stars are on a roll in this year’s Big Bash League (BBL) and on Friday, they continued with their magnificent form by defeating Melbourne Renegades by 7 wickets to remain on top of the points table with seven wins in eight outings.

The Stars’ good run has been facilitated by some top performances both with the bat and ball. While Haris Rauf has impressed with the ball, Stars’ batsman Glenn Maxwell has delivered with the bat apart from Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis and Maxwell are, in fact, the top two run-makers in this year’s BBL so far.

Stoinis, however, fell for a duck on Friday and the Stars were in a spot of bother at 54 for 3 in the seventh over while chasing 169. But it was Maxwell who turned the tables around by slamming an unbeaten 83 in just 45 balls to drive his side home. He added unbeaten 115 runs with Nick Larkin (33 not out) to see the Stars winning the game in the penultimate over. The loss saw the Renegades remain winless this season and languish at the bottom of the table after eight games.

Glenn Maxwell is the second-highest scorer in BBL 2019 at the moment

Maxwell’s superb form in this BBL has been all the more special for he took a break from cricket recently citing mental health — a step that was appreciated at all quarters. His phenomenal return to the game after taking a break during the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home proved that the batting all-rounder made a correct diagnosis of his problem and was on course of recovery.

Maxwell has scored 311 runs in eight matches in the tournament so far at an average of 77 plus with three fifties (strike rate of 169 plus). Stoinis, on the other hand, has 331 runs from equal number of matches at an average of 55.17 and a much lower strike-rate than Maxwell (around 120).

Just watching G.Maxwell on @FoxCricket i don’t think I’ve seen a batsmen hit the ball as hard since the great sir Vivian.#smashingem

— Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) January 10, 2020

Former Australia opener Mark Waugh was so impressed with Maxwell’s explosive innings that he compared his hitting abilities with West Indian legend Sir Vivian Richards. In a tweet, Waugh said he never saw a batsman hitting the ball as hard as Richards.

Maxwell, who has not been picked for the upcoming three-ODI series against India, will represent Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League 2020.

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