Maxi-mania hits the Wankhede as Australia pull off a historic World Cup win

Madness took over Mumbai as RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell burst into flames of absolute frenzy riding roughshod over the undercooked Afghans to chronicle what would go down in history as one of the most surreal knocks in World Cup history. 

Chasing 292, Australia were reduced to 92/7 at one point. When Maxwell walked out to bat, they were already caught in a brewing storm as four of their top-order batters were back in the hut.

The agony for the Roos didn’t really stop there as they lost three more wickets in the form of Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne with Maxi rooted at the other end and Australia embarked upon an odyssey to madness.

The rebuilding started slowly and steadily with the skipper, Pat Cummins, being a completely different version of the hard-hitting bowling all-rounder that we are aware of. Maxi, though, was just taking some time to instill beliefs of an upset in the Afghans, only to shatter that into pieces later.

Till that half-century mark that came on the back of a boundary against Noor Ahmad, Maxwell seemed to score at a modest pace with no intentions of showcasing the monster that was about to be unleashed on the upbeat Afghans.

Come Mujeeb in the 27th over, and The Show came out all guns blazing, as the carnage started with a shot through the covers, drilled flat and hard. Noor Ahmad was the next in line to receive some serious whiplashing from the all-rounder as he was rocked for two back-to-back sixes, with the first one launched over deep mid-wicket while the second went floating over the long-on fence.

Once the tap was on, it never really looked like Afghanistan could do much good to their aspirations as it wasn't just a Maxwell special, but Cummins played one of the most defiant anchoring knocks to stay at the crease. Maxi had a couple of lifelines though as Afghanistan couldn’t latch onto the chances that were gifted almost on a silver platter for them.

In the 41st over, things turned worse for Maxwell as he went down, completely flat, caught in a full-body cramp and he needed immediate medical attention. With Adam Zampa circling the ropes, fully geared up, beating all possible odds and medical challenges, Maxwell got back up like the Undertaker from the dead and chose to continue that herculean knock of his.

All it took him to get back to groove was another over and he was once again peppering the bowlers to every single nook and cranny of the park as Azmatullah simply stayed witness to the utter onslaught against him carved by The Show.

With five away from his double century and five runs to win the match as well, Maxi launched a delivery from Mujeeb over deep mid-wicket to register the third double-century in the history of the ODI World Cup as Australia crossed the line with three wickets to spare.