Maxwell's Historic Innings!

The 39th match of the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup took place between Afghanistan and Australia today (7th November, 2023).

The result of this match was another ✅ in the long list of ifs and buts for Pakistan's qualification for the World Cup semi-finals. For Pakistan to secure qualification, they depend on Afghanistan losing their next match against South Africa also, hope for New Zealand to stumble against Sri Lanka, and must secure a victory in their upcoming game against defending champions England who have displayed the worst defence of their title in the history of game. As a Pakistani cricket enthusiast, these intertwined events added extra anticipation and excitement to today's match. So, Australia was my favorite today!

_{The track of stats when your home team has already lost 4 matches back to back}

_{My husband's maths: Analyzing the chances of Pakistan qualifying for the semifinals after the last match with New Zealand. Desperate times need desperate maths}

☝️You can see why I was rooting for Australia. Australia's win would be another point in Pakistan's favour.

What I witnessed was history in the making. This match today featured a showdown between Australia and Afghanistan, with Australia facing a daunting situation, having lost 7 wickets for just 91 runs while chasing the target of 292 runs.

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However, the cricket world testified to a landmark event as they saw Glenn Maxwell's extraordinary performance, scoring 201 runs off 128 deliveries, enabling Australia to chase down the target of 291 in just 46.5 overs. This remarkable performance becomes even more sublime with the fact that Maxwell had to go through extreme physical pain of backache and cramps in order to achieve a near-impossible win for his country. It was a treat watching him play. What a mind-blowing display of sportsmanship and persistence indeed!

In my 28 years of watching cricket at the international, national, and league levels, the only innings that came close to today's innings was of Abdul Razzaq, who single handedly secured a 1 wicket victory against South Africa in 2010, scoring almost 64 of last 72 runs. However the stage where Maxwell performed amid his own physical pain makes today's innings undoubtedly the greatest ODI innings of all times.

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_{Abdul Razzaq takes the applause, Pakistan v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi, October 31, 2010}

The way Maxwell smashed the ball either side of the pitch at his will seemed out of this world.

I have nothing but respect for this legendary player!