Maxwell menace crushes million Afghan hopes in an epic Wankhede showdown

At the fall of the seventh wicket with just 91 runs on the board Australia were staring at a huge defeat chasing 292. I quickly texted a friend saying, “Never count out the Aussies”. I might have been over ambitious, but if any team could give a stern fight from that position, it would be Australia. With the biggest show stopper in World Cricket still at the crease, nothing could be ruled out. There have been stories of Australian resilience rising against all odds and doing the unthinkable, but this was something out of the blue.

Glenn Maxwell with a thunderous 201* off just 128 deliveries pulled out the greatest Houdini act of all time. With 21 fours and 10 sixes, he brought the entire Wankhede to a standstill. He stitched on a partnership of 202 runs with the skipper Pat Cummins, where Cummins contributed just 12 runs. The skipper joined Maxwell in the 19th over where winning the game from that position was a distant dream. Such was the single handed domination by Maxwell. Even the greatest ODI batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli hailed it as the best ODI innings of all time. The reaction from Pat Cummins during the last over summed up the knock. Cummins at the non strikers end was in complete awe with hands on his mouth staring at Maxwell to see whether this freak innings was a reality. It was indeed an innings where you fall short of any superlatives to describe the knock. You cannot even think of writing a script for that knock. It was beyond the imagination of the mortals. It was his belief that kept him going and made things happen.

There are few players who make you go wild. They defy science and logic when they bat. They make you go haywire and all the plans go for a toss. Maxwell is one of them. When he is in his disastrous mode, he is disdainful and abrasive. He keeps you interested with his attacking stoke play only to disappoint you with more misery.
Maxwell took few chances against the crafty Afghan spinners. He gave two chances that Afghanistan fielders weren’t able to capitalize on. Players like Maxwell make you pay. The drop by Hashmatullah Shahidi (20.1) cost 177 runs and when Mujeeb (21.5) dropped Maxwell, the all rounder who was on 33, added 168 runs more runs.
Maxwell tore apart Mujeeb who kept on missing his lengths. Even on not so short deliveries, Maxwell stayed back to get underneath the ball and clear the ropes. When it was anywhere near his six hitting arc, it was out of the park with ease. When Maxwell is in the six hitting zone, fielders don’t matter nor does the size of the ground.
The Mumbai heat affected the all rounder as he was cramping with still 80 odd runs to score. While taking a single, Maxwell cramped badly and was down on the field with excruciating pain. He pulled out an Undertaker (the WWE superstar) to make the greatest comebacks of all time. With pain affecting the mobility of the batter, he was limping on a single leg and had to go for a maximum of every ball. It is when his golf skills came to forte. The batter cleared his front leg and with a smooth and a clean swing of the bat cleared the ropes with ease. The boundary off Naveen Ul Haq straight down with the ground showcased the brute force he generates through his forearms. He kept going looking like a possessed beast. The end was so poetic that with 5 runs to get, Maxwell hit a six off Mujeeb to chase down the highest total at the Wankhede Stadium and also score the maiden ODI double hundred by an Australian Batsman.
An innings like this would crush the Afghanistan team. It would be very difficult for them to recover from the Maxwell Menace. With 91/7, the Australians were down and out with the semifinal berth within a touching distance for them. It was the single handed brilliance that made them falter away from their plan. With Maxwell cramping, the bowlers could have adopted a wide line and bowl an occasional bouncer. But players like Maxwell make your thinking go mad. Things happen very quickly before you are able to comprehend what is happening in front of you. You are difficult to fathom what is unfolding in front of you once he takes the center stage.
Australia are off to their 8th consecutive ODI World Cup knockouts. Once a team like Australia is in the knockouts, they become a different beast. It is their territory to make things happen in happen with their ruthlessness. But for them to win the 6th title, they need Maxwell to get fit until the semifinals.

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