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Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten double century had been a “bitter pill to swallow” as Australia denied his side another major World Cup scalp in stunning style.
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Trott’s men, who had already defeated reigning title-holders England, 1992 World Cup winners Pakistan and 1996 World Cup kings Sri Lanka, were on the brink of an arguably even greater success when they reduced Australia to 91-7 chasing a target of 292 in Mumbai on Tuesday.
But soon afterwards Mujeeb Ur Rahman dropped a sitter of a catch at short fine leg when Maxwell was on 33.
The all-rounder went on to punish Afghanistan in remarkable fashion with 201 not out, the 35-year-old finishing the match with his 10th six as he became just the third batsman after New Zealand’s Martin Guptill and West Indies’ Chris Gayle to score a World Cup double hundred.
“To give a person like Maxwell a chance, he’s going to run with it,” said Trott.
“When you get an opportunity against a side like Australia, you’ve got to grab it. They’re not going to just give it to you.”
‘Phenomenal’
Nevertheless, the 42-year-old former England batsman was in no doubt about the quality of Maxwell’s innings.
“Full credit to him, the way that he played to get a double hundred is phenomenal,” said Trott.
“He deserved to win the game; he got a double hundred…Sometimes you’ve got to take a cap off to a person the way that he played, but he shouldn’t have been allowed to play like that. We should have had him out earlier.”
Read: Glenn Maxwell takes batting to a rarefied realm
Victory would have seen Afghanistan take a giant stride towards the semi-finals, with this result instead seeing Australia into the last four.
“We’ve all enjoyed the victories,” said Trott, adding: “I said we win as a side and make sure we lose as a side. There’s no pointing fingers.”
One consolation on a chastening night was that Ibrahim Zadran became the first Afghanistan batsman to score a World Cup hundred, the opener’s 129 not out the centrepiece of a total of 291-5.
“To get that first hundred (in a World Cup) was fantastic,” said Trott.
“Maybe there’s times where he could have accelerated a little bit quicker, but he’s a fantastic player and a great lad. So, I’m really happy for him and hopefully many more (hundreds).”
Read: Top 5 moments from AUS vs AFG match
Afghanistan head into their concluding group game, against Trott’s native South Africa, in Ahmedabad on Friday still with a mathematical chance of reaching the last four.
But they will still need other results to go their way even if they defeat a Proteas side who’ve already qualified for the semi-finals.
“We lost the New Zealand game, came back and won the next game,” said Trott. “We lost the India game very heavily but came back and beat England.”
He added: “There’s no time to muck around, we’ve got to pick ourselves up and learn from the experience. But it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
“It would really be nice sitting here with 10 points. But hopefully that’s after the South Africa game.”
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