Andrew Miller11/07/2023 • 16 hours ago
Glenn Maxwell led a one-man resistance AFP/Getty Images
Pat Cummins hailed Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten double century against Afghanistan as “the greatest ODI innings ever” as Australia secured their place in the World Cup semi-finals thanks to an astonishing one-man fightback in Mumbai.
Chasing 292 for victory, Australia had fallen to 91 for 7 in the 19th over before Maxwell and Cummins combined in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 202 – a record partnership made all the more remarkable by Maxwell being almost ruled out with cramps Battle was set in the middle of his innings.
While Cummins maintained his unbeaten 12 off 68 balls, Maxwell hit a total of 21 fours and 10 sixes in his 128-ball stay, including a series of exceptional shots over the line, while trusting his eye to clear the ropes around his legs couldn’t move.
On several occasions it looked as if he would have to retire injured and Adam Zampa stepped up to the boundary to replace him, but Maxwell regained enough mobility to end the chase in glorious fashion – with a volley of six, six, four, six off Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the last of which enabled him to become the first Australian and ninth man overall to reach 200 in an ODI innings.
Asked how he felt after his efforts, Maxwell said at the Player of the Match presentation: “Terrible! I feel shocking! It was obviously pretty hot when we were on the field today and I haven’t really gotten it all done yet. “I’ve been doing a lot of high-intensity training in the heat and it definitely got to me today.
“Our plan was to stay at the same end for a while until I could get some exercise back, and luckily I was able to make it to the end.”
Having already scored a World Cup record 40 hundred against the Netherlands, Maxwell played down his performance, partly because he needed a significant amount of luck in the early stages before he could score his game-winning goal.
He reached the crease in the ninth over to face a hat-trick ball from a pumped-up Azmatullah Omarzai and duly survived a test for lbw after fending off a pinpoint throw from the line of his off-stump, but needed several more beforehand Chances he has found his range.
On the 27th he successfully fended off an LBW appeal from Noor Ahmad, which was proven to have slipped over his stumps, but in the same over he was heavily dropped by Mujeeb at short backward square, a reprieve that would have left Australia in the lurch and out at 112 for 8.
“Look, it would have been nice if there had been no chance,” Maxwell said. “I lived a charmed life out there. I was very lucky. And I think I just made the best of it. I feel like I’ve had innings like this before where I was given a chance and I didn’t make the most of it, so I’m really proud of coming through tonight with a not out at the end. “
His captain, however, was less reserved about the spectacle he witnessed up close from the non-striker’s side. “Just ridiculous… I don’t know how you describe it,” Cummins said at the post-game presentation. “Maxi was out of this world. It has to be the greatest ODI innings ever.”
As the innings progressed and it became clear that Australia had turned around a game situation that had at one point given them a 0.21% chance of winning, Maxwell’s incredulous teammates could be seen in the Australian dressing room marveling at his stroke play.
“It was just one of those days where you go, ‘Yeah, when that happened. I was here in the stadium,’” Cummins said. “We feel very lucky to be here.
“I couldn’t strike,” he joked when asked how the two built their partnership. “You just [let] Maxi does his thing… I mean, how am I supposed to say something like that to someone like that? He was great. Whenever you’re hunting, he always has a plan. Even when he’s down 200, he’s still trying to find a way to win the game.”
Maxwell, for his part, said his LBW break was the moment he realized the path he needed to take to save the game for Australia.
“[We didn’t plan] too much to be honest. Basically, we stuck to our own batting plans as best we could. And I suppose for me it was still about being positive, still trying to compete against them and produce bad balls or something else that I could score.
“I felt like if I had just defended myself they could have put a little bit of pressure on me. The LBW, which was just over the top, was probably the kickstart I needed to tell myself I had to do it. “Start playing some shots and be a little more proactive.
Had Australia failed to fight back, Afghanistan would have overtaken them in the World Cup standings by 10 points and put pressure on the semi-finals, with both New Zealand and Pakistan also vying for places in the top four. Instead, they have a place confirmed with one game remaining and after two early defeats to India and South Africa, Maxwell admitted it was a pleasing result.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I think after the first two games everyone wrote us off pretty quickly and to come back and win six in a row is a great achievement from this group. The belief is always there and we hope to win a game like tonight.” This belief spreads throughout the locker room.
Cummins added that the result and the manner in which it was achieved would also have been noted by their title rivals.
“I think it’s not only important for our team to be able to win anywhere, but also for the opponents,” he said. “With that in mind, you start planning your 50 overs and maybe you use the bowlers a little differently. That’s what you have to do when someone is doing so well.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi admitted he was “very disappointed” as he reflected on his team’s golden opportunity to make more history.
“Cricket is a fun game. It was incredible for us,” he said. “We were in the game, our bowlers started very well but at the end of the day the missed opportunity hurt us. That was the moment we missed and after that Maxwell didn’t stop. He played all sorts of shots, and I can give him credit.
Andrew Miller is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket