Maxwell does what only he can to produce GOAT ODI innings

“Ridiculous. Don't know how to describe it”. Pat Cummins was all of us on November 7. Because seriously, how do you describe something like that? Australia were teetering at 69/5, sunk further to 91/7, chasing 292 on a somewhat treacherous, dryish Mumbai track against a spirited Afghanistan attack that meant menacing business.

The predictors had all written them off, with the win percentage in the barely-existent territory. But little did Wankhede know it was in for the greatest, most dramatic of heists with the greatest of knocks headlining it.

“I've seen nothing like that…unbelievable scenes, he was done. He was down and out, he couldn't move.” This was Ricky Ponting on air. 

And this was Sachin Tendulkar on X: “From Max pressure to Max performance! This has been the best ODI knock I’ve seen in my life.”

This is how two men with a collective experience of 838 ODIs, a touch over 32,000 runs and 79 format centuries described Maxwell’s astonishing effort. Tendulkar and Ponting did not see something like this for something like this had simply never happened. 

Not too long ago was Bazball coined, and subsequently adopted in the cricketing vernacular and then the formal lexicon too. Perhaps, “Maxwell” should be inserted as well. It could be defined as showing indescribable courage and indomitable spirit in the face of unnerving adversity.

Maniac Maxwell's Mumbai magic

Maxwell could not have arrived at the crease in more testing circumstances. He walked in the ninth over to evade a hat-trick ball from Azmatullah Omarzai who had his tails up after dismissing David Warner and Josh Inglis off consecutive balls, and who was hell-bent on scripting another first – a World Cup hat-trick for Afghanistan – after his compatriot Ibrahim Zadran scripted one of his own by becoming the first centurion for his nation at the quadrennial.

Maxwell had a super-close shave, nicking the angled-in delivery which died on its way to the ‘keeper. It was at this moment, perhaps, he would have felt he had the rub of the green. And if not, there were half a dozen instances in the ensuing passage of play to establish that he had. But whom does fortune favours? Yes. The brave.

Maxwell hoicked Rashid on the first ball of the 21st only to lob the ball up, but confusion between the bowler and Hashmatullah Shahidi running in from covers meant he was reprieved. In the next over, Maxwell successfully reviewed Noor Ahmad’s lbw shout to even his own surprise as the ball tracker showed it to be going over the top of his stumps even as it looked quite plumb in real time. 

The same over produced one of cricket’s costliest drops as Mujeeb ur Rahman, stationed at short fine, shelled a dolly as Maxwell miscued a sweep immediately after reversing Noor to short third for four. He was on 27 and Australia 112 that time. One cannot – and should not – give someone of Maxwell’s calibre such reprieves. Afghanistan did and paid the price.

By now, Maxwell had started to get into his elements, enjoying just that little slice of luck one needs on days the kind Australia were having. And as if the drop unleashed the dormant beast in him, Maxwell authoritatively whacked Rashid to the midwicket fence before slamming Noor close to the same area in the next over.

It is no secret Maxwell has the uncanny knack of dispatching balls to unusual locations on the grounds, into areas only he has access to, with shots only he can unfurl. But Maxwell’s usual entry point is much later in the innings, mostly to add more impetus after the batters before him would have built a base for him to capitalise upon – as he did against Netherlands, whom he pulped en route to what is now the fastest World Cup century, a mere 40 balls. That it came despite Maxwell arriving as late as the 40th over only reinforces the ridiculous ball-striking abilities he possesses.

But all this was a luxury he did not have at Wankhede, where he not only had the proverbial mountain to climb but to climb it while eschewing his instincts and battling an imminent threat of running out of partners. So, he married his characteristic chutzpah and inimitable brutality with meticulous calculation and zen-like patience, biding his time in the enervating humidity of Mumbai that would knock even the fittest in the business down.

He notched up his half-century in the 26th over with a slice past mid-off off Noor, but that he was is no mood to not take Australia past the line became clear when he launched the same bowler for consecutive sixes in the 29th. He rubbed more salts into Mujeeb’s wound when he sent a diamond-hard smash over the bowler’s head followed by a butchery launch over long-on for six to advance towards his fourth ODI century, which came off 76 balls in a game that had seemingly started to look like Afghanistan’s to lose at one stage.

But now? The 91/7 seemed like a Before-Common-Era event, with Maxwell chaperoning the chase with befuddling confidence. Afghanistan not only erred in the field but also tactically, holding Mohammad Nabi back until as late as the 34th over despite Maxwell having gotten a hang of Noor and Mujeeb’s ploys. By the time of Nabi’s introduction, the white Kookaburra had transformed into a football for Maxwell. Result? Nabi was welcomed with two fours. Maxwell was going to go nowhere now, except his body had started to revolt against him.  

He was alarmingly cramped, with one being so jittery he was floored, shivering as if current flew through his body. But he refused to budge, batting and battling on one leg, a partially operational back and nearly every body part cramped and spasmed. It came to a ridiculous stage where Maxwell stopped using his feet at all, using only his strong base and sturdy bottom hand to manoeuvre the same bowlers who had rattled seven men of his team with nonchalance some time ago.

With 55 needed off the last nine, Maxwell smooshed Omarzai to deep midwicket for four to bring up his 150. Incapacitated to run, Maxwell let his partner Pat Cummins face a maiden over off Noor before returning to script a volley of 4, dot, 6, 4 against a hapless Omarzai in a 15-run over, leaving Australia only 32 shy of reaching where once they had no business reaching.

For all that the marauder’s body went through, Maxwell managed to huff and puff three strike-retaining singles on the last balls of overs 44 to 46, which included a sensational, all-power and wristy dispatch of Naveen in the deep for six. And then arrived the moment no one once thought would arrive: the 47th over, in which he went – remember, on one leg – 6, 6, 4, 6 to take his team past the finish line and become Australia’s first ODI double centurion. He stood with his arms aloft, a tired body and a disarming smile, soaking the history he so perfectly scripted. 

Maxwell managed 21 fours and 10 sixes in his 128-ball stay, batting for over 100 balls for the first time in his 11-year career, scoring nearly 70 per cent of Australia’s runs, finishing unbeaten on 201 on a day the second-highest score was Mitchell Marsh’s 24.

There have been eight ODI double tons in the past, none during a chase. Even if there ever was one, it most certainly would not have come in a 292-chase. All of this on a comeback after a freak injury that forced him to sit out of the previous game. Much like his injuries, the man himself is a freak.