BBL11: Glenn Maxwell blast Sydney Sixers en route to a stunning century for the Melbourne Stars at the MCG

Maxwell was at his irrepressible best, blasting the Sydney Sixers all over the MCG, combining stunning cricket strokes and the improvisation that has made him such a treat to watch.

Maxwell came to the crease with the Melbourne Stars in all sorts at 2-6, but his power and poise proved too much for the Sixers, his hundred coming up off 54 balls, including three sixes and 12 fours, and was brought up with still two overs left in the innings.

A back foot cover drive off Chris Jordan that pierced the gap between cover and mid-off was at the boundary before you could blink – much to the joy of Australian teammate Aaron Finch.

“The West Indies calypsos would be very, very proud of that shot,” Finch said, from the Fox Cricket commentary box.

“That is off the back foot, thumped cover drive.

“He gets his body in such unusual positions, to still be able to hit the middle of the bat with that power is extraordinary.”

Add to that a reverse lap-sweep off seamer Hayden Kerr, followed by a baseball home run bomb down the ground that would have made Babe Ruth proud and you have yourself a special innings.

Maxwell has two international hundreds opening the batting, but this was his maiden century in the BBL.

“You won’t see a better T20 hundred than that,” Finch gushed.

His 103 off 57 balls, eventually holing out to Jordan at cover, helped the Stars recover to 5-177.

It comes on the back of 40 off 25 balls against Sydney Thunder as the Stars hunt a third win on the bounce.

Maxwell, who was dropped early in his innings, indicated the wicket was not easy to bat on – despite his marauding performance. He said the Sixers played into his hands.

“I think there’s enough variable in the wicket,” Maxwell said on Fox Cricket during the innings break.

“I think what I was able to do was potentially get a couple of easy boundaries off my hip and then they probably changed their plans to me a little bit.

“I thought if they had have stuck over the top of the stumps where there were a couple of inconsistent areas it might have been a bit more tough to score but, because they went away from their plans, I was able to cash in on a bit of wide stuff and when they bowled at my body I was able to pick that up.”

Marsh blasts mesmerising century in Hobart

In his first real T20 hitout since he crunched a matchwinning 77 off 50 balls for Australia in the T20 World Cup Final, Mitch Marsh slaughtered the Hurricanes on his way to one of the finest centuries seen in the Big Bash.

Marsh, who has gone from Australian cricket’s Public Enemy No. 1 to one of its must-watch stars in the space of a couple of digs, blasted six fours and five sixes, taking particular delight in the part-time spin of D’Arcy Short. Three of his sixes came off one Short over – the second-last of the innings – which cost 25 runs.

With quick Joel Paris injuring his groin in his second over and unable to continue, the Hurricanes gambled on Short to bowl the second-last over. It didn’t end well.

A waste high full toss to Ashton Agar was caught at long on, but the resultant no ball called unleashed the Bison.

Having already hit Short long earlier in the over, Marsh then dispatched the left-arm wrist spinner for six, four, six.

Even Marsh’s mis-hits – and there weren’t many of those – carried the rope, such was his power, 33 coming off his last 10 balls.

The smile on the 31-year-old’s face said it all as he dribbled one to mid-off for the single that brought up his century – off just 60 balls – off the penultimate ball of a Perth Scorchers innings that yielded 5/182.

“Happened pretty quick there, amazing feeling,” Marsh said on the Seven coverage as he left the field.

Pretty quick, indeed – which has fast-become a mark of the man after he bashed 60 off just 27 balls in the Australia A clash with English Lions last week.

Short went for 41 off his five overs, Scott Boland 45 and Nathan Ellis 33 as Laurie Evans got in on the act with 40 off 25 balls.

The Hurricanes only fleetingly threatened, especially after losing their own World Cup hero Matthew Wade to the fifth ball of the chase.

Former ‘Cane Tymal Mills (3-23) claimed the vital wicket of McDermott (41 off 29) to start a collapse and end the contest.

The Scorchers’ 53-run win leaves Perth a perfect three from three after restricting Hobart to 129.