Australia recorded their highest-ever run chase (291) within the ODI World Cup historical past whereas enjoying on the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, November 7 to beat Afghanistan and cement a semifinal berth within the ongoing World Cup.
Player of the Match (POTM) Glenn Maxwell performed one of the best knock of his worldwide profession (201* off 128 balls) and gained what appeared like an unwinnable sport at one stage to additionally record the very best profitable chase on the Wankhede Stadium in ODIs.
Chasing a sizeable whole of 292 runs, Australia’s batters crumbled underneath the unrelenting strain that was utilized by the Afghanistan seamers up entrance. Travis Head could not even hassle the scorers as he made his means again to the pavilion for a duck.
Head was caught on the crease and had his whole physique weight resting on the again foot. The southpaw tried to flirt with an out-swinging supply exterior of his off-stump and was caught behind by Afghanistan wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil.
In got here Mitchell Marsh (24 off 11 balls) who tried to take the sport away from the Afghans by enjoying some eye-catching strokes however was pinned in entrance of his stumps by Naveen-ul-Haq because the latter bagged his second wicket of the sport. Naveen bowled an inswinger which jagged again in sharply and Marsh had no reply for it.
David Warner (18 off 29 balls), and Marnus Labuschagne (14 off 28 balls) tried to climate the storm however perished of their endeavour.
After the dismissal of Mitchell Starc within the nineteenth over of Australia’s chase, Pat Cummins walked in to script a counterattack of a major order that took the sport away from the Afghans.
Maxwell performed some jaw-dropping strokes to maul the Afghan spinners whereas Cummins batted sensibly on the different finish and relied extra on rotation of strike to help Maxwell. The duo of Maxwell and Cummins mixed to record the highest-ever eighth wicket stand (202 runs) within the historical past of ODI cricket and it performed a key function in taking Australia over the road.
The spotlight of Maxwell’s knock was the sheer aplomb with which he stored carrying on regardless of experiencing cramps at common intervals throughout his innings and actually carried the load of all of the hopes on one leg.
Earlier within the day, Afghanistan rode on Ibrahim Zadran’s maiden ODI World Cup century to publish 291 runs on the board. Zadran anchored Afghanistan’s innings fantastically and carried his bat.
He scored 129 runs off 143 balls, together with eight fours and three sixes at a strike price of 90.20.
Zadran received help from all his fellow batters, nevertheless, none of them managed to hold round for too lengthy barring Rashid Khan. Rashid acted as a catalyst on the loss of life and took on Australia’s seam assault.
He pressed the accelerator and performed a quick-fire cameo (35* runs off 18 balls) with the assistance of two fours and three sixes. Afghanistan had been missing some firepower and Rashid’s knock supplied the identical and took them to 291 on the finish.
