Australia fought back to beat Afghanistan by three wickets in their penultimate league match of the ODI World Cup 2023 and qualified for the semi-finals. Glenn Maxwell, on one leg, remained not out on 201 off 128 balls to help the five-time champions complete the chase with 19 balls to spare. Maxwell's knock was laced with 21 fours and 11 sixes. (Highlights | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
Chasing a formidable 292 to win and seal a semis spot, Afghanistan bowlers were all over the Aussies as their top-order were sent back to the pavilion pretty early. But Maxwell's fearless approach led a counter attack as he scored one of the best fighting World Cup innings.
Afghanistan were culprits of their own downfall as they dropped Maxwell quite a few times. Mujeeb Ur Rahman spilled one of the easiest chances at short fine leg, when Maxwell was batting on 33. However, the Aussie did not let that affect his rhythm as he went on about his counterattacking cricket.
Glenn Maxwell had walked into the middle during the 9th over, up to face a hat-trick ball, after Azmatullah Omarzai had scalped David Warner and Josh Inglis in consecutive deliveries. He nearly became the Afghan bowler's third victim as the opposition appealed for leg before but was saved by DRS. The replays showed that Maxwell had edged it rather than the ball clipping the pad.
The Aussie all-rounder brought up his double hundred in 128 balls as him along with skipper Pat Cummins, who chose to just block every delivery, put up a record unbeaten 202-run stand. This is Maxwell's third World Cup hundred and second in the ongoing edition. He hit one of the fastest century (off 40 balls) against Netherlands in Delhi.
Earlier, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi had won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in their World Cup match. Opener Ibrahim Zadran (129 not out off 143 balls) became the first Afghanistan batter to score a Cricket World Cup century for his country as he along with Rashid Khan guided Afghanistan to 291 for five in 50 overs.
