CWC23: Wounded kangaroo Maxwell lifts Australia to semifinal berth

Glenn Maxwell acknowledges the crowd after reaching his century against Afghanistan on Tuesday. Photo courtesy X

G. KRISHNAN

MUMBAI: Glenn Maxwell singlehandedly steered Australia to the third semifinal spot despite struggling badly with pain in his leg. The Australian batsman struggled to even stand but still fought bravely like a wounded soldier to emerge victorious in the end.

Maxwell’s unbeaten 201 in 128 balls with 21 fours and 10 sixes – his second hundred of this World Cup – helped Australia beat Afghanistan by three wickets. Maxwell not only scored Australia’s highest individual score in ODIs but also became the first double centurion for his country in this format.

At one stage, by the 19^th over of the Australian innings, Afghanistan were looking to create yet another sensational victory. Australia were 91 for 7 in 18.3 overs, chasing Afghanistan’s 291 for five.

Maxwell had only the bowlers to bat with. When skipper Pat Cummins joined him in the 19^th over, Maxwell was on 22. He was lucky twice in the same over by left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad, the 22^nd of the innings. When on 27, Maxwell was given out leg before wicket by umpire Michael Gough. However, the DRS saved him as it was going high, much to Maxwell’s surprise as he started walking towards the pavilion after seeing the first two reds on the giant screen, but returned to the crease after seeing the green on wickets.

Three deliveries later, Maxwell, who in between reverse swept the bowler for a four, was dropped on 33 by Mujeeb ur Rahman at short fine leg. It was a drop that cost Afghanistan very badly. It may even have cost Afghanistan a semifinal spot.

At that stage, Australia needed 180 more to win. Maxwell took the responsibility upon himself and despite battling pain in his leg, he fought like a brave warrior to see his team through.

And, his captain Pat Cummins gave him tremendous support, playing the waiting game while Maxwell went for fours and sixes, most of them towards the end of the innings without any footwork. Maxwell struggled to even stand and hit some incredible boundaries without moving his feet. So painful it was for him.

Cummins’ contribution in the match-winning unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 202 in 170 balls was 12 not out in 68 deliveries with one four.

With this win, Australia have become the third team after India and South Africa to enter the semifinals. They have 12 points and are third behind India (16) and South Africa (12, NRR +1.376). Australia NRR is +0.861.

The battle for the last semifinal spot is on between Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan. Afghanistan take on South Africa on Friday in Ahmedabad, Pakistan (8 points) will face the eliminated England in Kolkata on Saturday while the fourth contender, New Zealand (8 points) face Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Australia, who had to win this match to book their semifinal berth, had to bat out of their skin against a spin-dominated Afghanistan bowling unit. However, it was medium-pacer Naveen-ul-Haq who struck deadly blows upfront to have Australia in trouble at 43 for two by the sixth over and another quick, Azmat Omarzai struck twice in two deliveries 49 for four by the ninth.

Naveen beautifully swung the ball away from the left-handed Travis Head to take the outside edge to be caught by wicketkeeper Ikram Ali Khil with his second delivery of his first over. In his third over, after Mitchell Marsh struck deadly blows racing to 24 off just 10 deliveries with two fours and two sixes, Naveen trapped him leg before as the batsman played off the back foot.

It was becoming difficult for Australia to maintain the required run rate. Another right-arm medium-pacer Azmatullah Omarzai looked unplayable and dismissed the dangerous David Warner bowled through the gate and Josh Inglis caught at slip off successive deliveries.

The onus was on Marnus Labuschagne and Maxwell to guide Australia to victory. But, that was too much of an asking as a poor judgement running between the wickets saw Labuschagne run out while Rashid Khan dismissed Marcus Stoinis leg before wicket and Mitchell Starc caught behind in consecutive overs.

But Maxwell, surviving on the two ‘lives’, wrote an outstanding chapter in Australia’s World Cup campaign, scoring a remarkable double century.

Earlier, opener Ibrahim Zadran scored Afghanistan’s first century in a World Cup. His unbeaten 129 from 143 balls after batting for three hours and 36 minutes took Afghanistan to 291 for five in 50 overs after his captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and chose to bat. This is Afghanistan’s highest total in World Cup.

Earlier, Zadran became the fourth youngest batsman to score a World Cup century at 21 years and 330 days. He also became the 11th opener in World Cup history to score a century and stay unbeaten till the end of the innings while batting first.

After starting cautiously against the Australian pacers, Zadran shared important partnerships throughout the innings – 83 in 100 balls with Rahmat Shah (30) for the second wicket, 52 for the third wicket in 76 balls with Shahidi (26) and the most vital 58 unbroken in just 28 balls for the sixth wicket with Rashid Khan (35 not out).