Ill Maxwell breaks World Cup record in Dutch thumping

An ill Glenn Maxwell scored the fastest ever World Cup century to leave the brave but battered Netherlands as the ones feeling queasy as Australia romped to a 309-run win in Delhi.

David Warner (104 off 93 balls) drew level with Sachin Tendulkar's mark of six World Cup hundreds, but was overshadowed by Maxwell's jaw-dropping 40-ball ton, the fourth quickest in ODI history, as the pair underpinned Australia's first-innings tally of 399.

That duo then rode their hot hands in the field – Maxwell running out Vikram Singh with a direct hit, Warner leaping like an Australian rules centre-half forward to catch Sybrand Engelbrecht on the square-leg boundary – as the Netherlands crumbled for just 90 in 21 overs.

Australia's enormous victory margin was the largest ever recorded at a World Cup.

It gave Pat Cummins' men, fourth on the standings, a juicy net run-rate boost (from -0.193 to 1.142) to draw them closer to New Zealand, one spot above in third, as the Kiwis await them in their next match on Saturday in Dharamsala.

It was boiled lollies to chocolates for Maxwell, who was out for zero attempting an almighty hoick off his first ball against Pakistan last week to follow scores of 15, 3, 31no to begin the tournament.

There was pure elation on his face after his eighth six sealed the record-breaking ton, acknowledging the arrival of his new-born son Logan to India by mimicking a baby-rocking motion upon reaching his century.

"I've been pretty crook all day, so I wasn't expecting much today," Maxwell said after his 44-ball 106. "I had to bat a bit differently and actually probably tapered me down a bit."

Promoted to six in the absence of Marcus Stoinis who missed with a calf complaint, Maxwell started his onslaught relatively conventionally, scoring his first three boundaries with drives down the ground.

But a series of outrageous switch-hit sweeps and pulls off the Dutch pacemen sent him into overdrive.

The 35-year-old needed 27 balls to reach his first fifty and then just 13 more to get to triple figures, scoring all but 12 of the 103 runs he put on with Cummins for the seventh wicket.

He was still 25 runs short of a hundred going into the penultimate over of the innings, but needed just four legal deliveries to get there as Bas de Leede capped a nightmare outing by conceding 28 from his final over.

Adam Zampa had extra reason to be pleased with that. Less than six weeks after the leg-spinner equalled Mick Lewis' record for the worst ever ODI bowling figures (0-113), De Leede went two better by finishing with 2-115.

Zampa (4-8 from three overs) fared far better here, taking two wickets in as many balls in his second over after Australia's pacemen had proved too much for Dutch top order, with only Singh (25) passing 20.

The match was over before 8.30pm local time.

After Australia elected to bat first on a steamy afternoon, the Netherlands had reason to hold their heads high after keeping their opponents largely in check until Maxwell's arrival.

The underdogs held several solid catches, not least of which was Engelbrecht's long-on effort to finally see the back of Maxwell, though Teja Nidamanuru missing a tough running chance off the right-hander, on 26, proved costly.

Their sharp fielding had sparked an early controversy when Roelof van der Merwe claimed a low catch off Warner that didn't carry. Warner appeared to exchange some not-so-friendly words with Dutch players, though later demonstrably cleared the air with van der Merwe.

The bouncy Netherlands veteran, the oldest player to have featured in this tournament, made no mistake an over later following another tough catch to remove Steve Smith.

Warner rarely appeared settled in his anchoring hand, changing his bat and fiddling with the neck guards on his helmet at every available opportunity. He nonetheless overcame what his tactically astute opponents threw at him in a 132-run stand with Smith.

Marnus Labuschagne (62 off 47) scored the fastest innings of his ODI career but his deft knock had a suffocating effect on Warner, whose last 27 runs took him 16 overs to make as he faced just 35 balls out of a possible 97.

The opener, two days short of his 37th birthday, still marked his 26th ODI hundred with gusto, performing his trademark leap along before repeating his 'Pushpa' celebration inspired by a popular Telugu-language film.

It was his second century in as many innings after his 163 against Pakistan last week.

Smith had returned to form by scoring one fewer run in his 68-ball 71 than he had in his previous innings. It is a welcome sign ahead of his likely shift down from No.3 to No.4 when Travis Head, who was close to returning from a fractured hand for this match, comes back to open.

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs

October 16: Defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets

October 20: Defeated Pakistan by 62 runs

October 25: Defeated Netherlands by 309 runs

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

2023 World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	0	0	2.57	0	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	0	0	1.261	0	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0	0	0.841	0	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0	0	0.743	0	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	0	0	-0.199	0	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	0	0	-0.336	0	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	0	0	-0.572	0	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	0	0	-1.087	0	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	0	0	-1.419	0	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	0	0	-1.825	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points