It was amazing.
Glenn Maxwell quite possibly came up with the best one-day cricket innings yet when he single-handedly pulled the Aussie wagon through the drift against Afghanistan in Wankhede.
Australia faltered with their score at 91/7 and the victory target of 292 runs felt light years away.
But Maxwell lived up to his nickname of The Big Show: The 35-year-old batsman was the main character in a remarkable one-man show.
He took on Afghanistan’s spinners with nimble footwork and later – when the cramps and spasms threatened to completely derail his batting train – his excellent hand-eye coordination did the rest.
Maxwell enjoyed an unbeaten partnership of 202 runs for the eighth wicket with Pat Cummins.
The Aussie captain was responsible for 12 of these runs, while The Big Show finished the match with a six from Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s bowling.
When he walked off the field, he had 201 runs from just 128 deliveries to his name – 21 fours and ten sixes colored the innings in bright neon colours.
“It was one of those days where you can really just shake your head and be thankful that you were there to experience the action first hand,” Cummins said after the game.
According to the Australian captain, Maxwell is always full of plans – even when his team still needs more than 200 runs for an unlikely victory.
“You just have to let someone like Maxi play. I didn’t give much input – what do you say to him when he’s in such a mood? You can actually just sit back and enjoy the show.”
- Summary of the scorecard:
Afghanistan 291/5 in 50 overs: Ibrahim Zadran 129, Rashid Khan 35* and Josh Hazelwood 2/39.
Australia 293/7 in 46.5 overs: Glenn Maxwell 201* and Rashid Khan 2/44.
