Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who hammered a 19-ball 45 against India in the first One-day International against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday jokingly tweeted that he apologised to his Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul after his quickfire innings drove his side to a match-winning total of 374 runs in 50 overs.
Australia defeated India by 66 runs as the visitors could not chase the huge total, which was also the highest that Aussies have put up against India.
“I apologised to him while I was batting (emoticons of face with tears of joy, a lion face and folded hands) #kxipfriends Red heart,” Maxwell tweeted in response to Jimmy Neesham’s response to a fan’s tweet where KL Rahul’s face is super-imposed on a picture, showing him surprised over both KXIP players, Neesham and Maxwell performing for their countries.
While Maxwell thrashed Indian bowlers on Friday, Neesham’s 24-ball 48 helped the Kiwis beat West Indies by five wickets in a T20 International on the same day across the Tasman sea in Auckland.
Both Neesham and Maxwell had poor outings for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Neesham aggregated 19 runs with the bat and picked two wickets in five matches for his IPL franchise, that is led by Rahul, Maxwell aggregated just 108 in 13 matches. Maxwell took three wickets. Kings XI Punjab finished sixth with 12 points in the IPL points table.