Maxwell drags Australia to stunning win over Afghanistan in World Cup

Maxwell, heavily cramped and struggling to run, scored 201 runs as the five-time world champions produced a stunning turnaround to beat a confident Afghanistan side at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday evening.

It was a record run-chase at the stadium in Mumbai and it came after Australia had been reduced to 91-7 in the 19th over, after Afghanistan chose to bat first and posted a total of 291-5.

“The most remarkable thing you will ever see in cricket,” former New Zealand cricketer Ian Smith shouted on commentary as Maxwell hit a six to seal the win for Australia and cross 200 runs for himself.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who has won three World Cup titles, said Maxwell played the inning “on no legs.”

“I have played a lot of cricket, and I have watched a lot of cricket, but I have never seen anything like this,” a stunned Ponting said, adding, “it is something you will never, ever see again in international cricket.”

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 291/5 in 50 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 21, Ibrahim Zadran 129*, Rahmat Shah 30, Hashmatullah Shahidi 26, Azmatullah Omarzai 22, Rashid Khan 35*; Josh Hazlewood 2-39) lost to Australia 293/7 in 46.5 overs (Mitchell Marsh 24, Glenn Maxwell 201*; Naveen-ul-Haq 2-47, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-52, Rashid Khan 2-44) by three wickets

(Aljazeera)