ODI World Cup digest: Stunning Maxwell demolishes Netherlands; England try to get off the canvas – T20 IPL 2024

The Men’s 2023 ODI World Cup is now past the halfway stage as it builds towards the final on November 19. Each morning we will round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the insights from our reporters on the ground.

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Top Story: Warner, Maxwell one-two knocks Netherlands out cold

Australia 399 for 8 (Maxwell 106, Warner 104, Smith 71, Labuschagne 62, van Beek 4-74) beat Netherlands 90 (Zampa 4-8, Marsh 2-19) by 309 runs

It was the most brutal of one-twos. First came David Warner with the jab, then Glenn Maxwell with the “lights out” uppercut. A 104 from the opener had the Netherlands weary, but it was Maxwell’s astonishing 106 from just 44 deliveries that administered the most devastating of knock-out blows.

Australia posted 399 for 8, standing triumphantly at the halfway stage over floored opponents, who were unable to rise off the canvas, eventually succumbing to a chastening 309-run defeat – the largest in margin in men’s ODI World Cup history.

Match analysis: Maxwell defies the laws of physics in Delhi

Twenty-nine balls into his innings, Glenn Maxwell is waiting. His legs apart, facing the bowler front-on, wrists cocked, right one crossed over the left. In his own way, he is ready.

He is in the middle of the most manic of this World Cup’s innings, in which he would go on to demolish the record for fastest World Cup hundred, set only 17 days ago. Two balls before this, he has reverse swept a full ball on leg stump from seamer Bas de Leede way into the stands behind backward point.

Must Watch: Where are the last-over thrillers?

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Where are all the last-over thrillers?

News headlines

India allrounder Hardik Pandya will miss a second consecutive game at this World Cup – Sunday’s match against England – as he continues to recover from the ankle injury he suffered against Bangladesh in Pune.

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain at the World Cup, has travelled to Dhaka to train with his mentor Nazmul Abedeen Faheem even as the rest of the team arrived in Kolkata ahead of their matches in the city against Netherlands

Match preview

England vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT

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Pujara: Chinnaswamy pitch could suit England’s strengths

So, how’s that whole “attacking champions” thing working out? Jos Buttler may always regret saying England wouldn’t be “trying to defend anything” out in India – a statement that appears to be coming true uncomfortably quickly – but they are not quite at the point of no return, despite only being kept off the bottom of the table by Bangladesh’s thumping defeat to South Africa on Tuesday. Cornered lions, anyone?

Team news

England (probable) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Harry Brook, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Gus Atkinson/Mark Wood

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk) 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dushan Hemantha/Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

Feature: World Cup’s the (toughest) stage for accidental captain Kusal Mendis

When Kusal Mendis burst onto the scene at the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, he was earmarked for big things including captaincy. It has taken nearly a decade for Kusal to get that job, but it has come under circumstances he wouldn’t have envisaged.

As such, international cricket can be a hard place to learn on the fly and Kusal perhaps had valid reasons for not wanting the job in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup. Far from a sustainer of good form, he had only slowly been emerging from that frustrating ‘one step forward, two steps back’ pattern that has been a constant in his seven-year international career.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo