Australia advances to the World Cup semis by winning a hard-fought match against Afghanistan by three wickets. Thanks to a remarkable performance by Glenn Maxwell, who, despite having back problems and cramping, played an incredible knock of 201 runs off 128 balls.
Australia struggled at 49/4 in a 292-run chase when Maxwell came to bat. This went even worse down to 91/7 when he was joined by the Australian skipper Pat Cummins. It was then the two of them who led the Australian team to victory.
While Cummins remained unbeaten on 12 runs from 68 balls, it was Glenn Maxwell who played unbelievable innings of 201 runs, which included 21 fours and 10 sixes. The unbroken eight-wicket partnership of 202 runs led the team to an astonishing victory of 3 wickets.
Maxwell Breaks Several Records
Maxwell, with a double-century, not only led his team to victory and booked Australia’s spot in the semi-final but also broke several records :
Australia’s First Double-Centurion
The all-rounder from Australia recorded the country’s first-ever ODI double century and became the 11th player in ODI cricket to register a double century. Shane Watson set the previous mark of 185* against Bangladesh in 2011. By the way, Watson’s knock also occurred during a World Cup game.
Highest run chase score
With this outstanding effort, Maxwell broke Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman’s 193 against South Africa in 2021 to record the highest individual score in an ODI run chase. More importantly, Maxwell’s double century was the highest score ever recorded by a non-opener in the history of ODI cricket, surpassing Charles Coventry’s 194 against Bangladesh in 2009.
Furthermore, Maxwell’s 201* was only the third time a double hundred has occurred in an ODI Cricket World Cup, following Chris Gayle’s 215 for the West Indies in 2015 and Martin Guptill’s 237 for New Zealand in the same year.
Third in the list of six
Maxwell, by blasting ten sixes during the match, now ranks third in the sixes list. After this outstanding effort, he has 33 World Cup lifetime sixes, which puts him third on the all-time list of World Cup sixes, behind only West Indies cricket legend Chris Gayle (49) and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (45).
The Semi-Final
With this win, Australia have become the third team to secure a spot in the knock-out matches. South Africa is another team that has confirmed their spot, taking second place on the points table, while the host India has already reserved their spot, earning the top spot.
With this, the only semis spot left now is for the fourth-place finishers in the points table. New Zealand is currently in crucial fourth position, but their net run rate only puts them ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan. If they win their next two games and other outcomes go their way, the Netherlands might catch up to those three teams.
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