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That brings us to the end of an exhausting day after what transpired in the last 25 overs. The World Cup carnival continues and another important match coming up tomorrow with England squaring off against Netherlands for a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025. For now, this is me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator Shashwat Kumar. Goodnight!
Quite astounding to say the least. It hasn't yet sunk in to be honest. One of the greatest ODI knocks if not the greatest of all time. Australia were dead and buried. Maxwell felt he was a goner when the LBW call was made, he was dropped a couple of times but take nothing away from Maxwell and his willpower to stay there out in the middle despite having severe cramps. Australia become the 3rd team to go through to the playoffs while the fight for the 4th spot remains. Australia will now face South Africa in the semi-final but still not sure where they will be playing their match.
Afghanistan don't know what has struck them and it will be very difficult to regroup from this morale-shattering victory. They were in a stage where it was almost impossible to lose the match but as they cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, they were literally blown away by a hailstorm from Mad Max. It will be tough from here for Afghanistan to regroup and try and win against South Africa. A win there and defeats for both New Zealand and Pakistan will guarantee them a spot in the final four but it looks very hard from here on.
Pat Cummins (Australia captain): I mean just ridiculous. I don't know how you describe that knock. It's gotta be the greatest ODI innings that has ever happened. Feel very lucky to be here and witnessing this. Maxi keeps doing these things. He was calm and whenever we are chasing he has a fan. Even from 200 behind he still mapped me about how to chase this down. We had two NSW coming up. Zamps were on and off two three times but Maxi wanted to stay out there. I think, it's important. The opposition looks at that as well. Its important how to map a run chase. It's great getting into the semi-finals. I don't think, its the time and the place but yeah the toss played a big part. Both teams played very well but in the end, Maxi was just exceptional.
Hasmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain): Yeah, very disappointed. As you said, cricket is a funny game. It was unbelievable for us to be honest. Yeah, we were in the game. Our bowlers started very well. Since the 7th wicket, the dropped chances didn't help us and then Maxwell didn't stop. He batted brilliantly. I think, the catches were the key point. He played really well, he had all the shots and he didn't gave any chance after that. Our bowlers tried to hard to come back but credit goes to Maxwell. Proud of the team but we should be disappointed. But it's part of the game. Now we will try to come back stronger against South Africa. He must be proud of himself. I am also feeling proud for becoming the first Afghan to score a World Cup century. Wish him all the luck.
Glenn Maxwell, Player of the Match: (On how he is doing physically) Terrific (smiles). It was quite hot when we fielded. Have not really done a lot of high-intensity exercises in the heat. Got hold of me today. Tried to stayed at one end and happy I could be there at the end. (On plans after going seven down) Not too much. Just trying to stick to our batting plans as long as possible. Was trying to be positive, produce bad balls and put pressure on them. The lbw decision that went over the top probably kickstarted it. (On the conditions batting second) There was a little more swing and nip under lights. Credit to them, they bowled beautifully up front. What we struggled to do was take early wickets. (On where this hundred ranks) Would have been nice if it was chanceless. Led a charmed life. I have had those innings where I have not made the most of it. To see it out today with Pat, really proud of it. After the first two games, everyone was pretty quick to write us off. To come back and win six on the spin is great. Hopefully that belief spreads through the change room.
Australia won by 3 wickets (with 19 deliveries to spare)
It will take a significant amount of time for the Australian fans to soak this in. Maxwell couldn't move his feet in the final half of his innings but it didn't matter. He literally obliterated the Afghan bowlers as they had just no answers in front of his carnage. He was dropped on a couple of occasions and got away with a close LBW call but what transpired next was nothing short of a fairytale. Adjectives are not enough for an incredible double hundred from Maxwell.
The run chase began on a horrific note for the Aussies as Naveen Ul Haq nicked off Travis Head with a peach of an outswinger. The new ball bowlers started very well with Mujeeb also getting his act together. Just when Mitchell Marsh was turning it on, it was Naveen who trapped him right in front of the stumps with an incoming delivery that thudded onto his front pad. Azmatullah Omarzai was quite special with the newish ball as he managed to generate some prodigious seam movement and accounted for the wickets of David Warner and Josh Inglis on back to back deliveries.
The Australian batters looked all at sea as the spinners now started taking the charge. Marnus Labuschagne was run out in a crucial juncture of the game and when March Stoinis and Mitchell Starc was back in the hut, it certainly looked like Afghanistan was on the way to scripting a massive victory which would have been a huge boost to their net run rate. What transpired from there on, left the Afghans dazed and all the fans in the ground applaud to something very very special. Maxwell struggled through cramps, dropped chances but still hung on and pulled up a special performance.
At one stage, he just couldn't walk but kept clearing the fence and smashing boundaries at will. In a partnership of 203, Pat Cummins only contributed 12 off 68 deliveries. It might not be too many runs but certainly, it deserves special mention for the way he applied himself in that situation. Maxwell eventually finished on 201 off 128 deliveries which included 21 fours and 10 sixes. Australia become the 3rd team to go through to the playoffs while the fight for the 4th spot remains.
Absolutely staggering from Glenn Maxwell. What a mind-boggling performance from Mad Max. I have been watching cricket for the last 25 years, I haven't quite seen anything like this in my lifetime. Maxwell led a charmed life earlier and when he was dropped, he felt it was his day and just teed off like a runaway train. This is hard to beleive what has happened tonight.
46.5 Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Glenn Maxwell, DOUBLE HUNDRED FOR MAXWELL! WHAT A PLAYER, WHAT A CHAMPION, WHAT AN INNINGS, WHAT A RUN-CHASE! In the slot on leg stump. Maxwell clears his front leg and smokes this into oblivion over deep mid wicket. Australia were on the brink at one stage. They were staring into the abyss. It seemed everything was lost. But one man believed. And he went on to score 201 to take Australia past the finish line. Improbable. Perhaps even impossible. But most certainly incredible!
46.4 Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Glenn Maxwell, FOUR THIS TIME! Short and wide outside off. Maxwell does well to reach it in the first place and then crunches it past extra cover!
Nothing more can be said about this knock. This has been something out of the ordinary.
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Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
