Glenn Maxwell says he's trying to ride his career-best form for as long as he can after scoring his fourth international century in nine games, and equalling the record for the most T20I hundreds with a dazzling 120 not out from 55 balls against West Indies in Adelaide on Sunday.
Maxwell struck eight sixes and 12 fours in yet another astonishing display of white-ball batting to help set up Australia's highest T20I score on home soil of 241 for 4, which was enough for the home side to secure a win and series victory over West Indies.
In his last nine international innings dating back to the ODI World Cup, Maxwell has scores of 106, 41, 201 not out, 1, 2 not out, 12, 104 not out, 10 and 120 not out. His last two centuries have come in T20Is. He now has five in the format, equalling Rohit Sharma's record, and he has been not out in all five with Australia winning every game.
"I feel really comfortable in this format," Maxwell told Fox Sports at the post-match presentation. "I think over the last probably 18 months I've felt really good about my batting and really good about my game. I feel clear when I'm out in the middle. The game can sometimes feel nice and simple when you're out there and at other times you nick a couple of early and all of a sudden becomes really difficult. So I think while I'm going well I'm just trying to ride that as much as I possibly can and keep doing the same things."
Maxwell admitted that he got frustrated early in his innings on Sunday. He was 4 off 6 at one stage having yelled loudly at himself several times after finding fielders with well-struck shots.
"I probably just didn't hit the gaps as well as I would have liked straight away from the outset," Maxwell said.
"I probably expected too much of myself early on. But once I sort of calmed down, I hit a few gaps and gave myself a decent platform. We knew we were going to cash in the back 10 [overs] with a couple of wickets in hand, so it worked out really nicely."
Maxwell got his innings going with a huge slog sweep off Akeal Hosein and then took flight from there. He hit some extraordinary shots including a switch hit off Hosein into the second tier at cover-point. But he said the first blow was the one that proved he was switched on.
"I made a good decision against Akeal when he bowled an inswinger," Maxwell said. "I slog swept that one and I just felt like I was really clear in that moment, as soon as he bowls that swinger, to go to that shot, it just shows that I was watching the ball really hard. I was proud of that and I was able to, sort of, ride through the waves of the innings a little bit. You're not going to hit everything out of the middle, you're not going to hit everything for six but to go through the waves and mistime a couple, I was able to lock back in and stay pretty clear."
Maxwell's score of 120 was the second-highest by a batter coming in at No.4 or below in T20Is. Four of his five T20I centuries have come at No.4, which is a position he loves batting in.
"It's been a nice position for a long period of time but it's a difficult position as well," Maxwell said. "I think that's why I enjoy it so much. There's so many different scenarios you can come into and you've got to think your way through it and change the momentum of the game. I love it."