After being left out of the ODI Series drubbing by England with his attitude to training under question, Glenn Maxwell sent a message to the selectors as he compiled a phenomenal display with both bat and ball in Tasmania.
Fast start by the tourists
Australia arrived with confidence after defeating New Zealand in the opening match of the Tri-Series and hoped to use that momentum to gain revenge over an England side that defeated them 4-1 in the 50-over format.
The tourists opted to go on the offensive from the outset as Jason Roy and Alex Hales both contributed early boundaries. Yet their gung-ho approach failed to pay dividends as Roy was dismissed in the second over as Andrew Tye took a comfortable catch at cover off the bowling of Kane Richardson.
Despite Hales being dropped by Maxwell in the same over, England continued to attack. Dawid Malan, the one England player remaining in the team from the disappointing Ashes Series, found his range immediately as he smashed 16 off Billy Stanlake in his first over at the crease.
Hales and Malan took the tourists to 60-1 off six overs before the introduction of Ashton Agar made an instant impact. The spinner tempted Hales into a chip down the ground that he failed to squeeze past Agar who held on for a caught and bowled to dismiss the opener for 22.
England crumble
Eoin Morgan came to the crease and the England captain supported Malan as the pair continued to contribute at ten runs an over. However, another change of bowling proved fruitful as Morgan mishit a delivery straight to his opposing captain, David Warner, as Maxwell took his first wicket.
England still looked set for a total around 200 when they reached the midway point at 96-3 before wickets started to tumble on a regular basis. Maxwell caught Jos Buttler for just five off Marcus Stoinis before Agar took his second caught and bowled wicket as Sam Billings departed for ten.
29 runs in five overs had squeezed the pressure on England and Malan top-edged Maxwell to Tye shortly after reaching 50. David Willey then immediately followed Malan back to the pavilion as a rash charge down the wicket resulted in him being stumped off Maxwell by Alex Carey.
Adil Rashid and Tom Curran quickly followed as England slipped to 137-9 from 96-2. A brief cameo from Chris Jordan helped England to a defendable total of 155 but they were left with plenty to analyse after scoring just 59 runs in the last ten overs.
Short and Maxwell lead the charge
However, England were able to wrestle back the advantage as early as the first over of Australia's response. Willey dismissed both Warner and Chris Lynn as the hosts were left struggling on 4-2 after just six balls.
Yet D'Arcy Short and Maxwell were quick to respond as 15 runs in the sixth over took them to 59-2, just a run behind England at that stage in their innings. It was deja-vu in the following six ball stint as another aggressive approach resulted in a further 15 runs off spinner Rashid as Australia threatened to run away with their chase.
Rashid returned from that attack by tightening up his bowling which eventually paid dividends. After a third-wicket stand of 78, Short succumbed to the pressure of three successive dot deliveries as he stroked a drive straight back into the hands of Rashid.
Maxwell takes control despite controversy
As with England, Australia started to find runs hard to come by midway through their innings. After scoring just 16 runs in four overs, Mark Wood dismissed Stoinis for just six as the tourists smelt a comeback. However, the wicket England desperately wanted was that of Maxwell as he cruised past 50 with his score only threatened when Hales dropped him on 40.
Yet England thought they had created the breakthrough in the 13th over. Maxwell mishit a drive straight to Roy who appeared to have dismissed his man despite jamming his fingers into the ground. Yet Maxwell stood his ground and was reprieved on the review although the decision still looked controversial after a number of replays.
Travis Head only made six before being dismissed by Willey for the bowler's third wicket but that moment just sparked Maxwell into hogging the strike. The all-rounder went on to win the match for Australia with nine balls to spare by smashing a six for his century off the final delivery. 103 runs off 58 balls with ten fours and four sixes capped off a remarkable evening after picking up 3-10 with the ball.