ICC CWC: Glenn Maxwell's sensational knock drags Australia to incredible win against Afghanistan

MUMBAI: Despite struggling with fitness, Glenn Maxwell played one of the greatest one-day innings, hitting a 128-ball 201 not out to help Australia grab a three-wicket victory from the jaws of defeat against Afghanistan and sealed a semifinal spot for his team in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.

At one point, Australia looked like slumping to an embarrassing defeat, reduced to 91/7 in the 19th over, chasing Afghanistan's score of 291/5 built on the country's first century in World Cup by Ibrahim Zadran (129 not off 143 balls) and a quick 18-ball 35 by Rashid Khan.

However, things took a dramatic turn as Maxwell and skipper Pat Cummins raised 202 runs off 170 balls for the 8th wicket partnership, Maxwell scoring 179 of those runs and Cummins remained undefeated with 12 off 68 balls.

In the undefeated innings, Maxwell scored 201 off 128 deliveries, hitting 21 boundaries and 10 maximums in an amazing inning that took Australia to 12 points from eight matches and confirmed their place in the semifinals.

Afghanistan had earlier dropped two catches of Maxwell and also had an LBW opportunity going against them.

Earlier, Zadran held the Afghanistan innings together, scoring a 143-ball 129 as he remained unbeaten from start to finish, helping his team post a challenging 291/5 in their 50 overs.

Brief scores:

Afghanistan 291/5 in 50 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 129 not out; Rashid Khan 35 not out; Rahmat Shah 30; Josh Hazlewood 2-39) beat Australia 293/7 in 46.5 overs (Glenn Maxwell 201 not out; Rashid Khan 2-44, Naveen-ul-Haq 2-47, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-52) by three wickets.