Maxwell destroyed Rashid Khan’s brigade
Struck with early blows, the team Australia was literally left in a quandary by Afghanistan upfront, courtesy some fiery spells from young Naveen-ul-Haq and season campaigner Azmatullah Omerzai.The Australian side was left gasping for breath as more than half of their team went to pavilion leaving Maxwell all alone to fend for himself and the team.At a time when it looked a shut case for Aussies, Maxwell came harder, Maxwell came stronger to go hard against the Afghan bowlers without much caring about the results and in pursuit was even assisted by some sloppy fielding by the opponent fielders.
Afghanistan batting first after winning the toss, made a formidable total of 291/5 with a brilliant ton from top order batter Ibrahim Zadran.Other batters too chipped in with little cameos.Set to chase the 292 run target, Australia lost Travis Head for a naught while the incoming batters Labuschagne, Marsh, Warner, Stoinis and Starc also fell poorly before a buoyed yet disciplined Afghan bowling attack.
Glenn Maxwell, the one man army who played to his character stood between a win of Afghanistan as he went on to score runs on will and scored a historic double ton.Captain Cool Patt Cummins on the other hand negotiated the Afghan bowlers pretty well to help his colleague break free.
While the win has helped team Australia to zero in towards Semis’, it has on the other hand dashed Afghan hopes to a larger extent to secure a historic berth in the knockout stage.
This win in the meantime is sure to brighten the chances of Pakistan to make it to the knockout stage, if they somehow beat England by a good margin.
