Glenn Maxwell smashed his eighth T20 century, laced with 13 humongous sixes as he single-handedly changed Washington Freedom's innings' momentum against the LA Knight Riders in the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) edition at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday, June 17. It wasn't the most fluent Maxwell knock as the Freedom skipper had to bide his time after the defending champions found themselves in a bit of trouble at 68/4 but once he got set, he made the LAKR bowlers pay.
Maxwell was 11 off 15 at one point but ended up at 106 off just 49 balls, hitting the last 95 runs off just 34 balls. Maxwell equalled the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Freedom's assistant coach Michael Klinger, and former Australian openers Aaron Finch and David Warner, who all have eight centuries to their name in the T20 format. Maxwell surpassed the likes of Abhishek Sharma, KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock and Alex Hales whom he was tied on seven tons.
This was Maxwell's third T20 century as a captain as he equalled Rohit, Rahul and Chris Gayle on the list.
Most centuries in T20 cricket
Chris Gayle (2005-2022) - 22 hundreds (in 455 innings)
Babar Azam (2012-2025) - 11 hundreds (in 309 innings)
Rilee Rossouw (2008-2025) - 9 hundreds (in 363 innings)
Virat Kohli (2007-2025) - 9 hundreds (in 397 innings)
Michael Klinger (2006-2019) - 8 hundreds (in 198 innings)
Aaron Finch (2009-2024) - 8 hundreds (in 380 innings)
David Warner (2007-2025) - 8 hundreds (in 406 innings)
Jos Buttler (2009-2024) - 8 hundreds (in 420 innings)
Rohit Sharma (2007-2024) - 8 hundreds (in 450 innings)
Glenn Maxwell (2010-2025) - 8 hundreds (in 440 innings)
The 13 sixes he hit were the second-most by a batter in an innings in the MLC, just behind Finn Allen's 19 maximums in the opening game of the MLC against the Freedom themselves. This was the seventh century in the MLC overall, but only the fifth after the league's official List-A status before the second season. Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen's centuries in the inaugural edition wouldn't be counted.
As for the match, Freedom were struggling to string partnerships but Maxwell's knock single-handedly lifted their score to 208 against the underconfident line-up for LAKR, who lost their first two encounters in the tournament.
