GLENN Maxwell is playing for a place in the Indian Premier League final today – ahead of his return to Hampshire next week.

The 25 year-old has taken the IPL by storm this year and will be trying to help Kings XI Punjab beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in today’s rescheduled semi-final, following its postponement due to rain yesterday.

Hampshire director of cricket Giles White is expected to name an unchanged squad for Friday’s Natwest T20 Blast match against Essex at The Ageas Bowl after confirming that the first game of Maxwell’s second Hampshire spell will be against Kent at The Ageas Bowl on Thursday, June 5, whatever the result tonight.

Maxwell is no longer the leading scorer at this year’s IPL (he is averaging 16.3 in his last six innings) but only KKR’s Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Smith have scored more than the Aussie’s 533 at 41.

And what has made Maxwell’s IPL form so astonishing is the rate at which he has scored his runs. No-one with more than 200 runs comes close to his spectacular strike rate of 191 runs per 100 balls.

It is a record that should put bums on seats at The Ageas Bowl over the coming weeks.