Australia crush Netherlands by 309 runs; Maxwell slams fastest World Cup ton

Glenn Maxwell hit the fastest men’s World Cup century in 40 balls as Australia inflicted a record tournament defeat on the Netherlands in Delhi.

The right-hander beat Aiden Markram’s record of 49 balls, set 18 days ago for South Africa against Sri Lanka.

The Netherlands were bowled out for 90 in response, to suffer a 309-run loss.

David Warner also made his second century of the tournament as Australia racked up 399-8, with Bas de Leede conceding an ODI record 115.

Maxwell’s innings was full of power and extraordinary strokeplay, and is the fourth fastest in ODI history and Australia’s quickest, beating his 51-ball ton against Sri Lanka in the 2015 World Cup.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers’ 31-ball century is the fastest, coming against West Indies in 2015.

The margin of defeat beats Afghanistan’s 275-run defeat by Australia in the 2015 World Cup, while it is also Australia’s biggest ODI win.

Australia have now won three consecutive games, after starting with three defeats, and are starting to consolidate their place in the top four, with this huge victory boosting their net run-rate.

The Netherlands’ only win came against South Africa last Tuesday, and they are now bottom of the 10-team table.

When Maxwell came to the crease, Australia were 266-4 and in danger of throwing away a platform that suggested a score of 400 was possible.

That soon became 290-6 with Josh Inglis and Cameron Green falling before Maxwell decided to take the game on.

He was only on 15 at that point and took the arrival of captain Pat Cummins to put his foot down again.

There were outrageous reverse sweeps over point, a reverse pull for six and crashing drives back down the ground before three successive sixes over the leg side took him to the landmark.

The 35-year-old moved from his 50 to 100 in 13 balls – a sequence that included two dots, three singles, two fours and six sixes – before he fell for 106.

He celebrated by letting out a huge roar, before cradling his bat after recently becoming a father, with his partner and baby arriving in India in recent days.

The platform had been set by Warner, who hit four successive fours early in his innings, and there was an air of inevitability about his sixth World Cup century.

He is now level with Sachin Tendulkar and only one behind Rohit Sharma, while he is fifth on the all-time World Cup run-scorers list.

Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne both made half-centuries too, but Green scored just eight and that place in the side, which had been occupied by Marcus Stoinis in previous games, is likely to be taken by Travis Head when he recovers from a broken hand.

The Netherlands offered little fight with the bat, with only five batters making double figures and Vikram Singh’s 25 the highest score, as they were bowled out in 21 overs.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa continued his impressive campaign, taking 4-8 in mopping up the tail, and he now has 13 wickets in the tournament.

The 309-run margin is the second-highest in ODIs, behind India’s 317-run success over Sri Lanka in January 2023.

Australia will now fancy their chances of reaching the semi-finals with games against New Zealand, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to come. (BBC Sport)