Watch: Glenn Maxwell, who didn’t hit a single six in the whole of IPL 2020, started the 2021 edition with a bang, launching a 100-metre six that left several gobsmacked, including non-striker Virat Kohli.
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Maxwell, often criticised for his lack of impactful contributions in the Indian Premier League, despite garnering hefty paychecks year after year, was acquired by RCB ahead of IPL 2021, adding teeth to their usually depleted middle order.
In his first game for the team against Mumbai Indians, Maxwell played a vital role in RCB’s last-ball win, scoring a 28-ball 39 that included three fours and two sixes. The first of those sixes was hit with such power and timing, that it ended up clearing the stadium as well.
Off the first delivery of the 11th over, Krunal Pandya sent down an angling delivery that Maxwell was quick to pounce onto, using his feet to reach it and give it a good swing, but it was the sublime connection and timing, that saw the ball take off high and far.
The ball was calculated to have travelled exactly 100 metres, ending Maxwell’s dry spell of sixes in the IPL. “A bit of monkey off my back,” he later said, having hit his first IPL six after 1079 days.
The six, which brought down RCB’s equation to 79 off 59 balls, even induced an expression of awe on skipper Virat Kohli’s face.
Watch the fierce strike here:
