Glenn Maxwell's IPL torment is over after the out-of-sorts Australian star's wretched season - and the campaign of his Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit - was finally extinguished with a golden duck and a playoff exit.
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His Aussie teammate and fellow allrounder Cameron Green produced a fine effort with the ball in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), but Maxwell's woes with the willow endured to the bitter end as RCB lost their clash with Rajasthan Royals by four wickets to bow out of the tournament.
Maxwell had lost his way so badly midway through the league program that he took a break for his mental and physical wellbeing, but despite one fine piece of bowling that helped RCB beat Chennai and book their playoffs place, his batting mojo has simply fled.
This time, the ball after Green (27 off 21 balls) had fallen to Ravichandran Ashwin and a level head was called for with RCB precariously placed at 3-97, Maxwell tried to hit the wily Indian veteran out of the ground first ball, only to hole out straight to long-on.
That left his tally for the season on a startlingly meagre 52 from nine innings, at an average of 5.77.
His fourth duck of the campaign also left him joining Dinesh Karthik with the unwanted IPL record of 18 noughts in his IPL career.
What's been most surprising about the 35-year-old white-ball wizard's drought is that Maxwell's form in the six months before the IPL had been so impressive and, even given the vicissitudes of the T20 game, it must be of concern to Australia's selectors before the World Cup.
While RCB, who had been put in by Rajasthan, did well to recover to 8-172, more woe befell Maxwell when the man with one of the safest pair of hands in the league spilled an early, straightforward catch on the deep midwicket boundary as the Royals chased.
Maxwell didn't get a bowl either, but Green did put a check on Rajasthan's flying response, getting rid of India star Yashavsi Jaiswal for 45 as his four overs went for just 28.
But it wasn't enough as Riyan Parag (36) and Shimron Hetmyer (26) got Rajasthan's chase back on track and Rovman Powell eventually powered a straight six off New Zealander Lockie Ferguson to seal the Royals' win with an over to spare.
It meant the end of another campaign for RCB's Virat Kohli, but the great man's consolation will doubtless be another orange cap as the tournament's top scorer, with 741 runs at an average of 61.75.
While RCB depart, Rajasthan will next play what's effectively a semi-final against a Sunrisers Hyderabad team, captained by Pat Cummins and starring Travis Head, in Chennai on Friday, with the winners to meet the Mitchell Starc-fired Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's final.
Australian Associated Press
