The script was playing out again all too familiarly. The script was playing out again all too ominously. The script was playing out again all too terrifyingly. Another heartbreak loading. Another sleepless night for Rashid Khan. Another what-could-have-been for Afghanistan. Another ode to the glory of Glenn Maxwell.
“Glenn Maxwell has become a taboo word in Afghanistan,” an Afghan fan was overheard saying before the match began at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent. As the Australian run-chase entered the 15th over, Glenn Maxwell was about to become a banned word in Afghanistan, or so it seemed, the way the Australian No 4 seemed to be steering his team towards a win. And a win that had too many shades of Australia’s famous win in Mumbai from the 50-over men’s World Cup only six months ago to give the Afghans the jitters.
On a surface that none of his colleagues seemed to get settled on, Maxwell was batting like a dream, just like he was after a point that night at the Wankhede. On a night, where Australia’s batting had suffered an uncharacteristic collapse, Maxwell was playing the lone hand, and doing so like a batter who seemed to be operating on a higher level than everyone else present.
There were other signs too. Ibrahim Zadran, who had famously scored a century that night, had starred with the bat again here, at Arnos Vale with Rahmanullah Gurbaz playing an even better innings. And Naveen-Ul-Haq had given his team the best start with a fiery spell, even if there was no send-off for Mitchell Marsh here unlike at the Wankhede.
It was a humid night again, and Maxwell had started sweating profusely just like he had that night. He hadn’t started cramping yet though, but he was guzzling up fluids every time a reserve player brought some out to him. At one point, after he’d already hit Rashid for six, that led to some banter between the two T20 legends, he played an outrageous shot off a full ball from Gulbadin Naib, that sailed over long-off and brought up his half-century.
At this point, the second highest run-getter for Australia was Mitchell Marsh with 12, as it would remain eventually. He’d already hit a couple of boundaries with no headgear on, just like he had in Mumbai, on this balmy night. And as you looked around the field at the Afghans, you could start seeing signs of deja vu, with bowlers getting frustrated with fielders. Especially when an over-excited Gurbaz rolled the ball towards Maxwell’s stumps from behind the wickets, even though the Victorian was in his crease, and gave away an unnecessary over-throw.
Unlike that night in November though, the Afghans still didn’t look like they were wilting under the carnage. They’d seen this movie before after all. They’d experienced the finish after all. If they began looking lost and hapless after a point in Mumbai, in St Vincent, they never looked like they were about to give in, forget give up. This wasn’t going to be a repeat. This was a sequel, and most importantly, with a different ending.
That evening Maxwell had given them a couple of chances. Both had been floored, the Mujeeb ur Rahman drop the most damaging. He had also played and missed at nearly a dozen deliveries from Azmatullah and Naveen early in his innings.
Here, Maxwell looked like he had his eye in from the moment he walked out to bat. Maybethe six deliveries he faced against Bangladesh in Antigua had helped. Within the first 10 balls he faced here, Maxwell had already pulled off one audacious boundary, whipping a ball on a middle-stump line over deep backward square leg. He’d then taken down the young spinner, Nangeyalia Kharote, with a six and a four.
It was a chanceless innings, till he finally got an edge while flashing at a length delivery from Naib. The ball went flying in the direction of short third-man. Noor Ahmad had to bend down, stretch his hands out towards his left and also make sure he grabbed the ball before touching the ground. He did all three perfectly. It was a terrific catch under pressure. Maxwell was gone. Afghanistan could breathe again. They could say his name without dread again. And just like they’d been for most parts of the night, before Maxwell walked in, they were back on top again.
It was a significant moment in both the match and also for Afghanistan, denying Maxwell an encore, and with his departure, the outcome was more or less decided. And when the win came a bit later, accompanied with a real earthquake that was recorded at 6.2 on the Richter Scale, the celebration was emotional, manic and extremely ecstatic.
While the Afghan players couldn’t stop running around the ground and hugging each other, and there were many senior members of the team led by Naib who epitomised the magnitude of their victory, assistant coach Dwayne Bravo’s reactions towards the end summed up how much this meant to the entire team.
Bravo, who in his day enjoyed nothing more than beating Australian teams at World Cups, made his way out of the dug-out some two overs before the finish. He stood just outside the ropes behind long-off, chatting away with Naveen, and even showed extreme displeasure for the carelessness of having an extra fielder outside the 30-yard circle. But then he leapt the highest in the air, as Adam Zampa was caught at long-on by the veteran Mohammad Nabi, to cap off a famous night for Afghanistan cricket.
Yes, there will be the history element writ large over this narrative. Yes, there is the bigger picture, but what also needs to be celebrated is how thumping a win this was for Afghanistan.
Once Australia decided to field first after leaving Mitchell Starc out, the Afghan openers buckled in and decided to stick to their game-plan. There were no fancy shots, and no unnecessary risks. They instead ran like their lives mattered on every run, and they made sure that they put away every opportunity that Australia presented them on a slow, turning pitch. They also made the most of Australia’s sloppiness in the field, and continued to build in a way where the platform was laid perfectly for their middle-order.
Gurbaz, the leading run-scorer of the tournament at the moment, was the aggressor, finding the boundary regularly, with the bat and also with his attitude, getting into a bit of a word-off with Marcus Stoinis.
It wasn’t quite Ranatunga v Warne in 1996 but significant enough to see this young Afghan stand up to the hulking Aussie. It wasn’t nasty. Just a couple of fired-up cricketers on a tiring night getting in each other’s way. Gurbaz not being ready when Stoinis was at the top of his mark. Gurbaz shooing away the big Western Australian before hitting him for a six. And Stoinis them giving it back with a very animated celebration after getting rid of Gurbaz.
It was almost comical then when Stoinis walked out to bat and Gurbaz was into him even as the batter tried marking his guard, and then continued to get stuck-in at every opportunity he got. On a night of paybacks, he did get his own back with an excellent catch behind the wicket, even if his attempts to run all the way towards Stoinis and make his point was in vain.
This was a spirited Afghanistan team who were here to prove that they weren’t going to be overawed or deterred by an all-firing Australian team, who had looked the part to go all the way till they got to St Vincent. It proved to be a night where they outdid Australia with bat, ball and most crucially in the field. They had all but 20 fans, all from the either the US or Canada, waving their country’s flags. They also did however have a few thousands of neutral fans all barracking for them around Arnos Vale and millions around the world, leaving the touring group of Aussie fans all by themselves.
If the Maxwell innings in Mumbai became the highlight reel of that World Cup, there were moments in Arnos Vale that will be replayed around the cricket world for years to come. From everything the old-guards did in Naib flashing his biceps over after over to Nabi getting rid of David Warner in his only over to even Rashid making field and bowling changes like a man on a mission. To the passion and in-your-face intensity from the younger players led by Gurbaz and Noor, this was not simply a win for the ages. This was a statement from the Afghanistan team. This was a night they scripted their own blockbuster.