Batting on one leg, Glenn Maxwell used his bat like a butcher’s blade and produced an astonishing double century to singlehandedly lift Australia into another World Cup semi-final with a three-wicket win over Afghanistan here on Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 292, everyone at the Wankhede Stadium rubbed their eyes in disbelief as Australia slumped to 91 for 7 in 18.3 overs and staring at an annihilation.
History will judge if the knock at Wankhede, in terms of match situation, could be termed the greatest in ODI cricket. Who knows, it could act as the perfect fuel for Australia to win their sixth World Cup.
Batting on one leg after suffering from cramps, Maxwell just used his strong core and stable base to practice range-hitting as Hashmatullaah Shahidi’s bowlers erred tactically, feeding him with length balls on slot which allowed him to just plonk his front-foot and use his brute strength to let them all land into the Wankhede stands.
There was practically no footwork required and Afghanistan bowlers didn’t alter the length for ones as Maxwell was an example of what stand and deliver means.
