Glenn Maxwell played probably the greatest ODI knock ever and struck a monumental double hundred in the process to stun the Afghanistan team at the Wankhede but does it do away with Australia's batting troubles.
Chasing a big target of 292, the Aussies were tottering at 91/7 and almost on the verge of losing to the rampaging Afghans, who were bowling brilliantly until then.
It was then that Maxwell played an innings that will be remembered for a long, long time by cricket lovers. An innings that Indian cricket fans would compare to the epic knock of 175 played by Kapil Dev at Tunbridge Wells in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe.
SIMILAR TO KAPIL'S EPIC 175
India were 17/5 and in all sorts of trouble when Kapil smashed a monumental 175 that completely changed the complexion of the game. Maxwell's innings is somewhat reminiscent of that famous knock by the then Indian captain.
Maxwell's knock could even be ranked a notch higher than Kapil's considering the fact that he was in great pain in the latter half of his innings and could barely walk, let alone run.
AFGHANS BOWLED WELL INITIALLY
Here, in this game, Australia's top order was taken out by some great stump-to-stump bowling by the Afghan bowlers who stuck to their lines and lengths.
The likes of David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Inglis were taken out by the Afghan pacers with Azmatullah Omarzai being the surprise package.
Apart from Maxwell's unforgettable innings that turned the match upside down on its head, the rest of the Australian batters were unable to get their act together and build a long innings.
Celebrating Maxwell's iconic effort too much would be turning a blind eye to the fact that Australia have some serious concerns with regard to batting.
BRITTLE AUSTRALIAN BATTING ORDER
The fact that a quality top order like Australia's had to struggle against the not-so-renowned Afghan pacers before their spinners could even come into play reflected the state Australian batting was in.
Let's remember that it was only because of Maxwell's huge individual effort that they could overhaul the eventual target of 292.
The big question is would Maxwell have been able to pull off such a humongous effort against another bowling attack, let's say India for instance.
The chances are very little given the class and calibre of the Indian bowling attack, best in the world right now, that such a mindnumbing knock would be played with the batter not being tested.
How the Afghan bowlers failed to check Maxwell when it reached a point that he could barely walk, let alone run between the wickets, is beyond comprehension.
In a 202-run partnership, there were a couple of catching chances and one of Maxwell that was dropped by Mujeeb-ur-Rahman which costed the Afghans big time.
It was fairly simple, regulation chance that went abegging and Maxwell made the Afghans pay for it.
Australia will have to bat a lot better than rely on just Maxwell's brilliance as they head into the semifinals.
