Adelaide: Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 54 from 32 deliveries helped Australia reach a total of 168/8 in their Super 12 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Friday.
Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and asked Australia to bat first. The hosts didn’t get off to the kind of start they would have liked as they lost both of their openers Cameron Green and David Warner with just 48 runs on the board. Green opened the innings in absence of regular captain Aaron Finch, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Steve Smith, who replaced Tim David in this match, also departed soon, leaving Australia reeling at 52/3.
Mitchell Marsh took over the reigns after that with an excellent knock of 45 from 30 deliveries. Marcus Stoinis also added valuable 25 runs from 21 deliveries. But the real difference was made by Maxwell, who smashed an unbeaten 54 from 32 deliveries. Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Maxwell stuck around and lifted them to 168/8.
Afghanistan are already out of the semifinal race but this is a very important match for Australia as they not only need to win it but also need to do it by a big margin to stay in contention for the semi-final.
