Maxwell ton fires Australia to T20 series sweep

Glenn Maxwell hit a breathtaking century to single-handedly lead Australia to a 2-0 series sweep over India with their seven-wicket win in the second Twenty20 international on Wednesday.

Maxwell smashed 113 off 55 balls as the tourists chased down their target of 191 with two balls to spare at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Maxwell's knock laced with 7 fours and 9 sixes eclipsed Indian skipper Virat Kohli's 72 off 38 balls that lifted the hosts to 190 for four after being put into bat first.

Here's the Playing XI for #INDvAUS

Live - https://t.co/qqJihg093t pic.twitter.com/vXHhtTwNZB

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 27, 2019

The Aussies lost two early wickets in their chase but Maxwell stood his ground with two good partnerships including an unbeaten 99-run stand with Peter Handscomb, who made 20.

He finished the game with a six and four off paceman Siddarth Kaul to give the Aussies a convincing win after their last-ball finish in the opening match.

Unreal. Virat Kohli was the star with an unbeaten 72 off 38 balls as India posted 4-190 from their 20 overs. Enough?

Scores HERE: https://t.co/Ds9N8SpH3V #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/LYYRKnIbym

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 27, 2019

Put into bat, the hosts rode on a century stand between Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made 40 off 23 balls, to take the attack to the opposition bowlers.

Opener K.L. Rahul gave his team a brisk start with his 47 off 26 deliveries but Australia hit back with a couple of wickets to check the opposition surge.

Fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile got Rahul, who scored a fifty in his team's opening loss, with a change of pace as the batsman was caught out at deep third man.

Jason Behrendorff got Shikhar Dhawan for 14 and D'Arcy Short claimed Rishabh Pant for one with a brilliant catch from Jhye Richardson.

Third T20I ton for Glenn Maxwell, a knock of sensational strokeplay
Take a bow, Big Show! #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/oUXoOQVsm7

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 27, 2019

Kohli then clobbered the ball to all parts of the ground as he hit Coulter-Nile for three straight sixes in the 16th over to entertain a raucous home crowd.

Dhoni soon joined the party as the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman hit 3 fours and 3 sixes before falling to Pat Cummins.

The two teams now head into five one-day internationals starting Saturday in Hyderabad.

A remarkable knock in a tough chase, Glenn Maxwell 113*(55) leads Australia to a series sweephttps://t.co/Y1nGAsnhLP #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/jpiofEs5Iv

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 27, 2019

2ND T20I

INDIA INNINGS            R    B

Rahul c Richardson b Coulter-Nile    47    26

Dhawan c Stoinis b Behrendorff    14     24

Kohli not out                72    38

Pant c Richardson b Short        1    6

Dhoni c Finch b Cummins        40    23

Karthik not out            8    3

Extras (lb3, w5)            8

Total (20 overs)            190/4

Fall Of Wickets

1-61 (Rahul), 2-70 (Dhawan), 3-74 (Pant), 4-174 (Dhoni)

Bowling

Behrendorff 3-0-17-1, Richardson 4-0-45-0 (w1), Coulter-Nile 3-0-33-1 (w2), Cummins 3-0-40-1 (w2), Zampa 4-0-23-0, Short 3-0-29-1

AUSTRALIA INNINGS        R    B

Short c Rahul b Shankar    40    28

Stoinis b Kaul            7    11

Finch c Dhawan b Shankar    8    7

Maxwell not out        113    55

Handscomb not out        20    18

Extras (lb1, w4, nb1)        6

Total (19.4 overs)        194/3

Fall Of Wickets

1-13 (Stoinis), 2-22 (Finch), 3-95 (Short)

Bowling

Shankar 4-0-38-2 (w1), Bumrah 4-0-30-0, Kaul 3.4-0-45-1 (nb1), Chahal 4-0-47-0 (w2), Pandya 4-0-33-0 (w1)

Australia won by 7 wickets, sweep series 2-0

MoM & MoS: Glenn Maxwell