sherb
Hall of Famer
Actually, it was. Whether it's the "best" or not is subjective. But it's certainly up there.I like Maxwell, he is a fellow Saints supporter and it was a good knock from him but it wasn't one of the greatest ODI innings of all time.
He looked terrible early, dropped twice and was also lucky not to be out lbw then cashed in on some terrible bowling from a minnow team.
He also cashed in against another minnow team in the Netherlands, I haven't seen him bat all that well against proper teams in this WC.
He made 15 against India, 3 against South Africa and 41 against NZ on a flat deck when he got given a big platform from Warner and Head.
Why didn't he play one of these amazing ODI innings against those teams? Maybe because they aren't minnows and have better bowlers.
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Sure he was lucky early. So what? That's a big part of this game. And he made his opponents pay, that's the important thing.
As for poor bowling, you could equally argue that it came about as a result of Maxwell's batting.
Minnow team? You may have a point if he had come in at 1-250 after 30 overs, but Australia were 7-90 odd chasing 292. Playing a minnow team or not, you are in big trouble.
Referring to his other performances really is deflecting and not assessing this performance on its own merits.
On top of all that, he was cramping up big time. Plus he was under the pressure of chasing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with not being a huge Maxwell fan, yet acknowledging this was one of the all-time great knocks.