A hobbled Glenn Maxwell scored Australia's first ever men's ODI double century to pull off one of cricket's all-time greatest comebacks
Match Report:
ScorecardMaxwell's miracle in Mumbai seals extraordinary win
Glenn Maxwell defied intense pain to play one of the greatest innings in history and pull off the mother of all heists in a World Cup epic against Afghanistan in Mumbai.
A cramping Maxwell (201no from 128 balls) could hardly walk, let alone run, through the back half of a 202-run partnership with captain Pat Cummins – the biggest for the eighth wicket in ODI history – as the Aussies rose from the dead to seal a semi-final berth.
Maxwell hit his ninth and tenth sixes to bring up the first ODI double century ever by an Australian man and seal a victory that, three hours earlier, various win-predictor calculators suggested was a less-than-one-percent chance of happening.
Chasing 292 for victory after Ibrahim Zadran (129no from 143) posted his country's first ever World Cup century, the Aussies initially capitulated as the fired-up Afghan attack reduced them to 7-91 with all their recognised batters – bar Maxwell – back in the sheds.
Maxwell hardly celebrated what appeared to be a consolation hundred, off just 76 balls, before a series of cramps kicked in. They only seemed to increase the threat he posed to an Afghanistan side that had looked assured of their first win over Australia in any format.
The 35-year-old, playing in his first game back after suffering a concussion last week, required medical treatment at the end of most overs after reaching triple figures.
At the end of one over, he collapsed on the ground and looked like he would not be able to continue. The next man in, Adam Zampa, was on the edge of the outfield, waiting to come onto the ground.
Maxwell ploughed on, electing to simply stand and deliver. Somehow, he got his side home with 19 balls and three wickets to spare. Cummins finished not out on 12 off 68 balls, contributing six per cent of the runs in the match-winning stand.
Afghanistan were left to rue dropping Maxwell twice, on 24 and 33, as well as an lbw review not going their way. Those three chances came within the space of 12 balls.
The ramifications for the rest of the competition are significant. The result sealed Australia's semi-final berth in the top four, leaving New Zealand and Pakistan as the main contender for the last finals spot.
Afghanistan are not out of the running but now face an uphill battle to make the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time.
Afghanistan's bowlers had been cock-a-hoop before the Maxwell show as their first win over Australia in any format appeared certain.
Pacemen Naveen-ul-Haq (2-47) and Azmatullah Omarzai (2-52) took advantage of a pitch that quickened up in the evening and left the Aussie middle-order exposed to their ace spin brigade.
The feisty Naveen dismissed Travis Head for a second-ball duck, before appearing to give Mitch Marsh a send-off – reciprocated by an angered wave of the Western Australian's bat – after pinning him lbw.
The Afghans could hardly contain their glee when Azmatullah dismissed David Warner (18) and Josh Inglis (golden duck) in consecutive deliveries, with Maxwell surviving a worthy hat-trick ball.
There was further calamity when Marnus Labuschagne, who hesitated on a single called by Maxwell, was run-out on a direct hit from Rahmat Shah that preceded a probing few overs from Rashid Khan that looked to have finished Australia off.
The leg-spin wizard had Marcus Stoinis lbw on the second of two close appeals, before Mitchell Starc failed to review a caught-behind decision that replays showed he had missed by some distance.
Rashid earlier torched the Aussie bowlers at the death, helping Afghanistan surge after a slow start to see them post 5-291.
The 21-year-old Zadran batted through the innings, taking 131 balls to get to triple-figures, slowing up considerably as he approached the milestone having hit just one boundary between the 19th and 44th overs.
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Beat Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Beat Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Beat New Zealand by five runs
November 4: Beat England by 33 runs
November 7: Beat Afghanistan by three wickets
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points