Last updated on .From the section Cricket

Glenn Maxwell's previous highest T20 score was 75

Australia have set a new record score in Twenty20 international cricket, hitting 263-3 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

The total beat the 260 set by Sri Lanka against Kenya in 2007.

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell hit 145 not out from just 65 balls.

Sri Lanka - who had won the toss and elected to bowl first - could only manage 178-9 in reply as Australia won the first game of the two-match series by 85 runs.

Maxwell, who opened the batting, hit nine sixes and 14 fours in his innings - the second-highest in international T20 cricket.

"At the top of the order you have a little bit more freedom to get yourself into the game and play pretty normal shots without taking too many risks," Maxwell said.

Australia team-mate Aaron Finch holds the individual record score of 156, which came against England in 2013.

However, 27-year-old Maxwell was only playing as an opener after Finch broke a finger during the recent one-day series against Sri Lanka.

"Batting at the top is somewhere I would love to bat, but most of the teams I play in the opportunities just aren't there," Maxwell said.

Australia's T20 record comes just eight days after England set a new record score in one day international cricket, making 444 against Pakistan - which also beat a record previously held by Sri Lanka.

Match scorecard

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