“Greatest innings of any kind ever”: Cricket world stunned
ODI hero Glenn Maxwell has single-handedly rewritten the cricket record books, leaving fans and fellow players alike scratching their heads in disbelief.
In the recent ODI match against Afghanistan, where Australia found themselves in a precarious position at 7/91 chasing 292, Maxwell delivered an innings that has now been dubbed the "greatest innings ever" – or, in the words of captain Pat Cummins, "Just ridiculous. I don't know how you describe that."
Maxwell's adventure leading up to this awe-inspiring performance involved a mishap on the golf course that left him nursing an injury and missing Australia's previous World Cup game. It seems that the golf course has its share of hazards, but Maxwell was more than willing to make amends with his cricketing prowess.
The drama reached its peak when Maxwell, the man of the hour, made his entrance. He defied all odds and stats, forming an unbroken partnership of 202 for the eighth wicket with the skipper, who contributed a modest 12 runs. While Cummins found himself with little to do but admire Maxwell's heroics, he summed it up perfectly, saying, "I couldn't get on strike! I just let Maxi do his thing, how am I going to say anything to someone batting like that?"
The cricketing world was equally flabbergasted by Maxwell's performance. Former England captain Michael Vaughan declared, "This is the greatest ODI innings ever. It might be the greatest innings of any kind ever."
And the accolades didn't stop there; even cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar couldn't contain his awe, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to exclaim, "From Max pressure to Max performance! This has been the best ODI knock I've seen in my life."
Maxwell's knock of 201 not out featured 21 fours and 10 sixes and made him only the third batsman in World Cup history to score a double century. His list of records broken during the game is so long that you'd need a bigger scoreboard to fit them all. He set records for the highest score in an ODI run chase, the highest score at No.5 or lower, the first ever 200-run score in a run chase, the highest score for an Australian batter in an ODI, and the second-fastest 200 in an ODI.
Maxwell's cramp attack while batting at 146 was just a minor hiccough in his incredible journey. Following on-field treatment, he continued to pummel Afghanistan's attack with an array of shots that had fans gasping for breath.
After the match, the exhausted but victorious Maxwell said, "Horrific, I feel shocking. It was quite hot when we were fielding, I haven't done a whole lot of high-intensity exercise in the heat. It got a hold of me today, I was lucky to stick it out until the end."
In the end, it was a rollercoaster of a match that had spectators on the edge of their seats. Maxwell's incredible innings will surely be talked about for years to come, and who knows, maybe the golf course will become the secret training ground for future cricketing legends.
Image: Getty