Australia’s Glenn Maxwell says from 91/7, he and Pat Cummins plotted how to chase down Afghans for improbable win

New Delhi, November 8

Playing with cramps, being unable to use his footwork due to the pain, was ‘great fun’ for Glenn Maxwell, who smashed an astonishing double century, the third in the history of the World Cup, to take Australia to a stunning victory over Afghanistan on Tuesday night.

It was not so much fun for Afghanistan, who had Australia on the ropes at 91/7, needing 201 more to win — but Australia didn’t lose a wicket after that as Maxwell and Pat Cummins put up 202 runs off just 170 balls. Maxwell did most of the scoring, contributing 179 runs to the partnership, while Cummins’s share was only 12.

“He still can’t move and still manages to hit a six over the third man with reverse – he’s a freak, he hits into different areas… Again, he makes it look so easy,” said Cummins later.

Maxwell played with pain after reaching his century, and at one stage was thinking of retiring hurt, and Adam Zampa was ready to replace him. “I thought he was going off. So, I kind of signalled to Zamps to get down here because he literally couldn’t move,” said Cummins.

The team physiotherapist got there, too, and convinced Maxwell that “if he came off, it might be worse” when he wanted to go to bat again.

“We talked about coming off and trying to get some work into my back and trying to loosen up my legs a little bit,” Maxwell said. “The physio said it would be really hard for you to come back out down the stairs after that. It probably made the job a little more simple.”

So Maxwell continued — but since he was finding it very difficult to run, it was decided that he would go for the boundaries and not bother with running. “He tried to take one run and was almost stretched off. So, after that, I just said, we’ll both agree, just stay down there,” Cummins revealed.

The key, said Maxwell, was to ensure that Afghanistan’s best bowler Rashid Khan didn’t cause any damage late in the innings.

“We knew Rashid had about 18 balls left that was going to happen in the last 13 overs or something like that,” Maxwell said. “As long as we kept him out of the game I felt like I could hit boundaries off the others.”

“There was certain planning, it wasn’t all just chaotic swinging,” said Maxwell.

Maxwell has had a peculiar World Cup — he made a 40-ball century against Netherlands, then fell off a golf cart and missed the game against England with concussion. “It’s been a busy couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s been a weird couple of weeks.”

1 Australia’s first double century maker in ODIs, Maxwell also became the first anywhere to reach 200 during an ODI chase

3 Maxwell became the third player to score 200 at a World Cup, following Chris Gayle’s 219 against Zimbabwe in 2015 and Martin Guptill’s 237 not out against West Indies in 2015