ICC World Cup 2023: ‘Just a one-man show’

Australia captain Pat Cummins lavished praise on allrounder Glenn Maxwell for his outstanding unbeaten knock of 201 which helped Australia see off Afghanistan by three wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night Maxwell took just 128 balls to reach his score and smashed 21 fours as well as 10 sixes to single handedly register an unbelievable winAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 Kiwi hopes hang by a threadPat CumminsCummins 12 not out off 68 balls who gave Maxwell muchneeded company from the nonstrikerrsquos end in their matchwinning eighth wicket stand of 202 runs off 170 balls admitted that it was possible only because of Maxwellrsquos miracle and regarded his knock as the greatest ODI innings ever ldquoYeah itrsquos just a oneman show Itrsquos just looks so easy Irsquom up the other end and I donrsquot see any gaps in the field I donrsquot see where Irsquom going to score a boundary and it seems like every time he Maxwell sees that he just runs away for fourAlso ReadItrsquos time nice guys New Zealand show their steely sidelsquoMaxwellrsquos a freakrsquoldquoYeah he Maxwell still canrsquot move and still manages to hit a six to third man with the reversemdashhersquos a freak he hits into different areas again he makes it look so easy And when yoursquore up against someone like that as a bowler you just donrsquot have many optionsrdquo Cummins said during the postmatch press conference While chasing Afghanistanrsquos total of 2915 Australia secured a win with 19 balls to spare Cummins explained the quality of Maxwellrsquos knock ldquoI think thatrsquos the greatest ODI innings From what Irsquove seen itrsquos probably the greatest ODI innings ever Yeah we were just chatting about it all the players and wersquove decided itrsquos one of those days where you just go lsquoI was there in the stadium the day Glenn Maxwell chased down that total by himselfrsquo rdquoWhen asked about the conversations he had with Maxwell in the 19th over when they had lost seven wickets for just 91 Cummins admitted that they were thinking about the Afghan spinners as a big challenge ldquoInitially when I walked out there we thought the mystery spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman Noor Ahmad were the biggest trouble The ball was still spinning a little bit and they were bowling really well For me it was just basically hanging in there Maxi was still scoring quite freely We knew itrsquos the kind of wicket that gets easierA simple planldquoWe didnrsquot really feel like runrate was ever going to be an issue with Maxi still at the crease So for me it was just about survival and just hope we get a look at some of the other bowlers that maybe the wicket doesnrsquot suit as much So it was a pretty simple plan didnrsquot look too far aheadrdquo Cummins said When Maxwell took a single off Noor and reached 147 in the 41st over he was in terrible pain because of his hamstring Team physio Nick Jones treated him and No 10 batsman Adam Zampa was ready to replace MaxwellCummins revealed how the physio played an important role at that stage and convinced Maxwell to hang in the middle instead of thinking to be back in the dressing room ldquoI thought he Maxwell was going off So I kind of signaled to Zampa to get down here because he literally couldnrsquot move Then I think the physio was out there and he convinced Maxi that if he came off he might be worse off So try and hang out there stand up and thatrsquos probably your best bet Because once you go off itrsquos that much cramp but therersquos no guarantee yoursquore going to get back out thererdquo Cummins said The rest is history