By no means has staff efficiently chased a goal of greater than 280 on the Wankhede Stadium. And it regarded to stay true on Tuesday night when Australia had been seven down for simply 91 of their chase of 292. Afghanistan therefore stood three wickets, simply three, away from a largest ever World Cup upset and an virtually sure semifinal berth. Then Glenn Maxwell, single-handedly, pulled off an unthinkable heist to not simply hand Australia a three-wicket win, but additionally assured their place within the knockouts.
After Ibrahim Zadran turned Afghanistan’s first-ever centurion in World Cups, Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai ripped by means of the top-order earlier than Rashid Khan joined the bandwagon with strikes in successive overs as Afghanistan sniffed a well-known win. However Maxwell crashed the celebration. He smashed an 201 not out, whereas stitching an unbeaten 202-run stand alongside captain Pat Cummins the place he scored 179 runs, as Australia flipped the script.
World cricket went gaga over Maxwell’s efficiency on the Wankhede because the likes of Ben Stokes and legendary batters in Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag hailed it because the “finest ODI knock ever”.
Listed below are among the reactions…
What added to the greatness of the knock was Maxwell’s willingness to push all boundaries. The humid situations in Mumbai had received the higher of him halfway by means of the enduring innings as he was seen hobbling his approach by means of for singles earlier than taking place on the bottom, clinching his thigh in sheer agony. But he battled by means of. With minimal foot motion, Maxwell accomplished his 150 earlier than racing away in direction of 201* as Australia secured their semifinal ticket.
“It will have been good if it was a chanceless knock, however I had my possibilities, to benefit from it tonight was one thing I will be pleased with. Superb, after the primary two video games, folks had been fast to jot down us off. The idea was at all times there (as a staff), after at the moment, it might have gone a bit greater,” he mentioned within the post-match presentation after collected the Participant of the Match award.