Maxwell stupendous 90 takes Punjab to 231/4 against Chennai

 Glenn Maxwell rained with fours and sixes in a stupendous exhibition of strokeplay as his 90 off just 38 balls took Kings XI Punjab to a mammoth 231 for four in their IPL match here today.

Maxwell, the most prolific scorer this season, continued with his show of incredible batting prowess as he butchered the Chennai bowlers to submission to almost single-handedly take Punjab to the highest total of the IPL-7 so far after his side was put into bat.

Except for Mohit Sharma (2/15), all the Chennai bowlers were punished heavily with Ishwar Pandey (0/41), Dwayne Smith (1/36), Ravindra Jadeja (0/37) and R Ashwin (0/38) being at the receiving end as the 25-year-old Australian hit six fours and eight sixes in front of a packed crowd at Barabati Stadium.

He stitched 135-runs with David Miller (47 off 32 balls) for the third wicket from just 10.4 overs after the duo came together in the sixth over at 38 for two.

The duo added a phenomenal 88 runs in the five overs after the halfway mark, scoring 17, 14, 21, 18 and 14 each over with the 100-run partnership between Maxwell and Miller coming up in just 8.4 overs.

Punjab added an incredible 162 runs in the second half of their innings with captain George Bailey chipping in with a cameo of 13-ball 40 not out towards the end to take his side to the fifth highest total in IPL history.

Earlier, opener Virender Sehwag (30) began with a bang by hitting the first ball of the innings. He hit three fours off Ishwar Pandey in second over to give Punjab a flying start.

His opening partner Mandeep Singh, who replaced Cheteshwar Pujara at the top today, was out for just three of the bowling of Mohit Sharma in the fifth over while trying for an unnecessary shot.