In the 39th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Australia defeated Afghanistan by 3 wickets with the help of Glenn Maxwell’s back-to-back centuries. This is the highest score by any Australian batsman in this World Cup. At one point, Australia was struggling at 91 for 7 in 18.3 overs. With this win, Australia became the third team to get into the semifinal.
Afghanistan posted a total of 291 runs on the scoreboard at the loss of 5 wickets. The highest run-scorer for Afghanistan was Ibrahim Zadran, who scored a century, 129 runs not out from 143 balls. During his innings, he hit 8 boundaries and 3 sixes. With this century, he became the first Afghan batsman to score a ton in the World Cup. Rashid Khan also contributed with a quick 35 runs not out from 18 balls, including 2 fours and 3 sixes.
Rahmat Shah contributed 30 runs. Rahmat and Zadran formed a partnership of 83 runs for the second wicket, taking 100 balls to do so. In the end, Rashid Khan and Zadran shared a partnership of 58 runs not out from 28 balls. Afghanistan managed to score 96 runs in the last 10 overs. Josh Hazlewood took the most wickets for Australia, grabbing 2 wickets. Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, and Glenn Maxwell each took one wicket.
Chasing the target, Australia achieved victory by scoring 293 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 46.5 overs. Glenn Maxwell was the top run-scorer for Australia, playing a remarkable innings of 201 runs not out with the help of 21 boundaries and 10 sixes in 128 deliveries. Maxwell had been suffering from cramps during his innings, making it difficult for him to take singles.
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Maxwell completed his century in just 76 deliveries. Maxwell formed a partnership of 202 runs not out with captain Pat Cummins, who scored 11 not out from 68 balls. Mitchell Marsh contributed 24 runs with the help of 2 boundaries and 2 sixes in 11 deliveries. David Warner scored 18 runs from 29 balls with the help of 2 boundaries. From the Afghan, Navin-ul-Haq, Ajmatullah Omarzai, and Rashid Khan each took 2 wickets.
