Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was in awe of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, who smashed the fastest-ever World Cup century against the Netherlands at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Boom Boom is expecting middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed to play the same way Maxwell did as he has those skills similar to Australian all-rounder.
“What an innings by Glenn Maxwell today, its a showcase of top class power hitting, well deserved win for Australia,” Afridi posted on X.
“I expect Iftikhar Ahmad to play a similar role for our team, he definitely has the capability to do so and the pitches are curated for power hitting, we all need you to fire up now,” he added.
Remember, Glenn Maxwell showed no mercy to the Netherlands bowlers and hit them to all parts of the ground. He completed his ton in just 40 balls.
The 35-year-old came to bat when the Aussies were 266-4 in 38 overs after they had just lost the wicket of Josh Inglis.
Maxwell came in and started hitting the Dutch bowlers and scored 106 runs in total off just 44 deliveries courtesy of 17 boundaries, nine fours and eight sixes.
The fastest World Cup century’s record belonged to South Africa’s Aidan Markram who scored a ton on 49 balls against Sri Lanka in the Proteas’ first match of the mega event at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Australia continued their fantastic form and beat the Netherlands by 309 runs. The massive 309-run — the largest in the history of the mega event — win helped the Aussies improve their net run rate (NRR) considerably and strengthened their position on the road to the semi-final.
Chasing the colossal target of 400 runs, not a single Dutch batter could hold their nerves and stood against the bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Marsh.
The Netherlands kept losing wickets quickly and were soon all out for just 90 runs.
