On Tuesday in Mumbai, Australia was 7 down for 91 when Glenn Maxwell began to play in the difficult pursuit of 292 against Afghanistan. The Afghans will be plagued by what happened next for the rest of their lives, however. Afghanistan was dominating the match and getting closer to their fourth consecutive victory in the ongoing World Cup 2023. They had the momentum, but it was squandered after a number of missed receptions by Maxwell. The Australian all-rounder was able to cause chaos at Wankhede Stadium by scoring the best-ever innings during an ODI run chase.
Mujeeb ur Rahman bowled Noor Ahmad in the 22nd over, dismissing Maxwell for 33 after he was dropped by Hasmathullah Shahidi and then survived a leg-before. Following a few near misses, the Australian all-rounder didn’t look back and looked like an absolute nightmare for the Afghans, slamming an undefeated 201 to guarantee Australia’s place in the semi-finals.
Jonathan Trott, the coach of Afghanistan, said that the squad lost motivation to recover after a few missed opportunities to take out Maxwell.
Unfortunately, when the second capture failed, it seemed like everyone was just waiting for Maxwell to escape. I didn’t see many individuals offering each other support or encouragement. After the game, Trott told reporters, “It felt kind of like the attitude was a little bit, well, we’ll just, hopefully, we’ll still win type thing.”
The head coach of Afghanistan said that when a side like Australia gives opportunities, the opposition can’t risk losing them.
“You don’t have to seize a chance to play a team like Australia when it presents itself. They won’t provide it to you without any explanation. And you must accept it. You must seize it if you have the opportunity. And that’s the kind of stuff we’ll take away from today and our recent conversation in the changing room,” he said.
Afghanistan had the lowest NRR (-0.338) out of the three, equal on 8 points with Pakistan and New Zealand. They will play South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday.
