AUS vs SL: Glenn Maxwell's bullet throw catches Kusal Mendis short of his ground in 4th T20I

Glenn Maxwell did what Glenn Maxwell does as he produced a brilliant throw to catch Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis short of his ground in the fourth T20I match of the series being played at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The visitors were in a good position, having scored 73 runs in their first ten overs with both Mendis and Pathum Nissanka stitching a partnership of 40 runs. However, a direct throw by the ‘big show’ from long-on boundary caught the batter short from his crease.

During the 11th over of the match, Nissanka pushed left-arm spinner, Ashton Agar, towards long-on and sensed an opportunity for the second run with the fielder sitting pretty deep. However, Mendis was caught a good yard or two short from Maxwell’s bullet throw as he ran near the 30-yard circle to collect the ball. Even a despairing dive from the batter couldn’t save him.

As soon as the ball hit the stumps,  Maxwell had his one arm up in the air, celebrating the wicket. Even stand-in umpire Rod Tucker was seen nodding as he referred to the third umpire for the decision. The ‘big show’ was then surrounded by his teammates, who were congratulating him.

Big show runout sparked a downslide for the Lankans

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka were in a good position at half stage of their innings with both Mendis and Nissanka milking the ball for singles and doubles with odd boundaries coming in between. However, Maxwell’s sensational fielding effort punched a hole in Sri Lanka’s momentum as they constantly kept losing wickets.

From 76/1 at one stage, the visitors only managed to score 139 runs in their allotted 20 overs and losing eight wickets in the process.  Pacer Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowler for Aussies as he scalped two wickets in his four over quota giving away just 20 runs. Apart from Jhye, Kane Richardson also bagged two wickets under his name, while Agar and Adam Zampa took one wicket each. Australia went onto win the contest by six wickets, earning an unassailable 4-0 lead in the five-match series.