Published: Jun 24, 2016, 11:49 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 24, 2016, 12:56 PM (IST)
Glenn Maxwell heaped praises for his teammates Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who have formed an excellent pace combination for Australia. Their latest victim was West Indies when they squared off in Australia’s final group match of Tri-Nation Series 2016 at Barbados. Hazlewood and Starc as always opened bowling for Australia and bowled the first 10 consecutive overs. An amazed Maxwell went on to say that those were the “best first 10 overs he had seen from Australia for a long time.” The duo reduced West Indies to 36 for 3 after the opening Power Play during their win against the hosts by 6 wickets. Full Cricket Scorecard: West Indies vs Australia, Match 8, Tri-Nation Series 2016 at Barbados
According to cricket.com.au, talking about Australia’s current inexperienced bowling line-up, Maxwell said, “That was probably the best first 10 overs I’ve seen from Australia for a long time and with an inexperienced line-up as well. Starcy was only playing his 50th game tonight, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood … it’s nice to be able to put (their inexperience) aside and still play so well.”
“We did a great job at the top (today), did an unbelievable job to keep them to 83 in the last 10 overs. That was outstanding and was probably the difference,” he said after Australia’s win in 8th ODI of Tri-Nation Series 2016 that took them to the final. READ: Glenn Maxwell rescues himself & Australia in Tri-Nation ODI series 2016
Australia won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the squad that played in that tournament included their regular bowlers, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson, who carried the responsibility of their bowling attack. Maxwell added, “If you look at our World Cup side from last year, we’ve lost (Mitchell) Johnson and Watto (Shane Watson) who bowled 20 overs for us and did such a great job for us. It was either through the middle when they always found a wicket for us, or up on the top.”
Starc, who played his 50th ODI for Australia, finished with figures of 3 for 51. On the other hand, Hazlewood bowled an astonishing 36 dot balls in his initial 7 overs, including 17 consecutively to finish his spell.
