Live Report - Afghanistan vs Australia, World Cup 2023, Mumbai

It wasn't too long ago that Maxwell had raised his bat for his fifty, and not too much later he has absolutely raced to his century off just 76 balls! Here's the breakdown:

0 to 50 in 51 balls, with seven fours
And 51 to 100 in 25 balls, with three fours and three sixes!

His knock and belief have now brought Australia back in the game and how. After 35 overs, Australia need just about run a ball, 92 from 90 balls, but with only three wickets in hand.

Australia would have hardly recovered from that run-out and Rashid has handed them two more blows! First a typical Rashid dismissal - a googly against Stoinis who wants to reverse sweep Rashid out of the ground but he can't get anywhere close to it. When the umpire gives it out, Stoinis reviews it as well but the decision stays.

The second not a typical Rashid dismissal at all. In fact not even a dismissal? Mitchell Starc poked at one outside off, presumably edged it, and the keeper Ikram Alikhil takes a stunning reflex catch on second attempt. The umpire gives it again, and Starc doesn't review it, but once he's back in the dressing room, UltraEdge shows he didn't actually edge it!

Already 69 for 4 after 14 overs, Australia are well on the back foot. Afghanistan bring out their trump card, Rashid Khan. He bowls a fairly normal legbreak on off stump which Maxwell nudges towards midwicket and takes off for the single. Hang on. Looks like Labuschagne doesn't want it, but he has already ventured out of his crease. By the time they look at each other and assess there's a run or not, Maxwell is almost halfway down the pitch. Labuschagne goes for it as well now, sprints down the wicket, dives to get to the crease, stretches his arm out with the bat, but Rahmat Shah has also sent his throw in from midwicket. It's not the quickest throw but it's flat and hits the stumps. The bails light up, Afghanistan think they have another wicket, and replays show Labuschagne's bat is not inside the crease, a part of it is just above the crease but not inside, and that's the fifth wicket down!

Australia 69 for 5 and Rashid Khan hasn't even struck yet.

Also remember how the ball swung last week when India's quicks bowled against Sri Lanka? There's no Farooqi for Afghanistan today, Naveen isn't their primary swing bowler, so Azmatullah Omarzai, probably their third-best quick bowler, has taken it upon himself to not only swing the ball but also pitch it where it should, and beat the batters.

After his first over was smashed for 14, he roared back to bowl a maiden against Warner. All right on the money, swinging in from around the wicket, just short of length, and making Warner work to make sure he's not beaten on the inside edge.

When it's time for his third, he again has Warner on strike, and this time pitches it just a touch fuller but with a lot more swing. Warner spots the length and pretty much goes down on a knee to heave on the leg side, but the ball has swung in so much that it has beaten him completely and knocked over his off stump.

Omarzai is a naturally away swinger for right-handers. Next is Josh Inglis, not Maxwell, not Stoinis. All Omarzai has to do is get the other basics right for the outswinger - pitch it on length outside off and move it away. He does that, and pokes and Inglis edges it straight to first slip for a golden duck!

Australia are going down a slope they didn't think they would! They're 51 for 4 after nine overs.

Who is this Azmatullah Omarzai though? Deiva Muthu has you covered.

Remember how Naveen removed Jos Buttler in that historic win against England? He has done it again, and this time it's the wicket of the big-hitting Mitchell Marsh. Here's how he does it - goes wide of the crease, lands the ball well outside off but his angle and ability to nip the ball in are so good that the ball jags back in towards the stumps. Buttler missed it and lost his stumps; Marsh missed it too and was hit on the back pad right in front of the stumps. It's so accurate that he doesn't review it.

There's also some heat flaring up between the players. Warner and Rashid had a chat between overs that didn't look so friendly, and Marsh too pointed his bat towards the celebratory Afghan huddle as soon as he got out, probably provoked by someone from the opposition. Like the cliche goes, it's all happening.

Australia 43 for 2 after six.

The Wankhede is buzzing! Two left-handers on strike so Naveen goes around the wicket and for the second ball goes wide of the crease, curves the ball into Travis Head from well outside off and forces him to play. Head makes it worse for himself by poking away from the body and edges it behind! Naveen roars, the Wankhede roars even louder behind him, his team-mates chase him down to celebrate and Australia are one down in the second over.

The ball is swinging! Are they going to miss Fazalhaq Farooqi today?

Ibrahim Zadran shows us after reaching his hundred that he can whack the ball too! First there is a stunning pick-up flick off the pads off Starc behind square for six and then a pull he muscles off Cummins for the same result. Meanwhile, Rashid is going after pretty much everything, he's farming the strike in the last over, and he has hit Starc for two sixes in the last over. If the lofted straight drive over long-off wasn't believable enough, he almost takes his eyes off the ball while hooking him for a flat six two balls later.

Afghanistan hammer 75 runs in the last six overs. Here are some more numbers:

This is Afghanistan's highest score at ODI World Cups.

Australia conceded 64 runs in the last five overs (46-50), the most in a men's ODI World Cup game (since 1999).

It's the death overs, Rashid Khan is out there and he's trying to whack everything out of the park. He smashes Maxwell for 16 in the 47th over and when he goes after Starc in the 48th, he holes out to Stoinis at deep cover.

Or has he? Stoinis swoops in from the deep, dives forward to try and get his bucket hands under the ball and on first look it seems as if it's a clean catch. Rashid is not going anywhere, the umpires get together, they're all looking at the big screen. On second look also it looks clean but the more it is slowed down, the more you start to doubt it. Are his hands spread too wide? Are all his fingers under it properly? It's not conclusive at all and maybe for that reason, the third umpire rules it not out.

Later on they also show on broadcast that Stoinis asked them to go upstairs after he took the catch.

Until today, the highest score by an Afghanistan batter in ODI World Cups was Samiullah Shinwari's 96 against Scotland in the 2015 edition. Today, Ibrahim Zadran, who had also scored 87 opposite Pakistan just two weeks ago, has broken that record against the mighty Australians!

He is the fourth-youngest batter to score a century at the men's ODI World Cup. And here is what Firdose has observed about him from Wankhede:

"Zadran’s century came off 131 balls with a streaky single that he turned into two after almost being run out at the non-striker’s by Pat Cummins. Had the throw been accurate, Zadran could have been run out on 99. Instead, he held back his elation to complete the second run and then stood arms aloft and soaked in applause from the dressing room and a two-thirds full crowd, many of them cheering Afghanistan.

"The century is fine reward for a solid campaign in which Zadran has been in double figures in every innings. He has established himself as the anchor in Afghanistan’s line-up and today, did that job particularly well to see of Mitchell Starc’s opening spell - and even profit from it - given he averages 14.50 against left-arm seamers. Zadran’s first boundary was off a Starc half-volley, that he leaned into and pushed between point and cover.

When Rahmanullah Gurbaz picked out the fielder at deep backward square in the eighth over, Zadran had to bed in even more but he showed off the signature shot of this innings - the cut, in all its varieties - early. He played it to sent Glenn Maxwell between point and short third and then leant back ever so slightly to upper cut Cummins over the wicketkeeper’s head for what will be one of the shots of the tournament. His half-century came off 61 balls and despite a strike-rate that never got above 80, he shared in an 83 stand with Rahmat Shah and put on 52 with Hashmatullah Shahidi to set up Afghanistan up for a strong finish.

A criticism, if there has to be one, is that Afghanistan only have six overs to up the ante on a good batting pitch that they may not have taken full advantage of."

Afghanistan still going at well under five an over and it's likely that Ibrahim Zadran will anchor almost all the way so Hashmatullah Shahidi is the man to hit the pedal. That second ball you see there, which says W, is when Shahidi came down the track to attack, but Starc, even if he's not at his best today, sent down a searing inswinging yorker at 141kmh which the batter had no answer for.

Afghanistan on the back foot? Hang on. Azmatullah Omarzai, the new batter, plays out a couple of dots before he gets a full delivery from Starc, and he suddenly unleashes an absolutely stunning lofted drive over mid-off for a six. The fielder was in, the shot was out. That was some way to get off the mark!

His first four overs for just 16 runs and when he comes on for his fifth, both Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi collect a boundary each off him in an 11-run over. Afghanistan close in on five runs per over.

First it was Rahmanullah Gurbaz who had played a good 25 balls to dominate the opening stand with Ibrahim Zadran, before Gurbaz threw his wicket away by playing a half-hearted pull to deep square leg.

Now, after being set for 44 balls, it's the in-form Rahmat Shah who comes down the track against Glenn Maxwell with the field spread out and chips one of the simplest catches to long-off.

Two decent starts and two wickets thrown away. Afghanistan will hope the rest of their batters don't do the same. They're 122 for 2 after 25.

Right from the Asia Cup there have been questions around Afghanistan's middle order, if they have to make a mark in ODIs. That middle order has stepped up in the World Cup, has helped them chase down targets, but today the first step to set Australia a stiff target was for one of their openers to settle down and set things up for the middle order. Hello, Ibrahim Zadran. The more patient of the two openers, the one more in control today while playing his shots, the one leading Afghanistan right now with a 62-ball fifty, with his drives, especially through the covers.

The shot of the day (never mind we've seen just 20 overs) also belonged to him - Cummins bowled a short ball just around off, and Ibrahim Zadran hardly moved his body, just made his arms follow the patch of the ball after it bounced to ramp it well over the keeper with the minimum possible movements of the body! If there was a way to hit a boundary while hardly moving your body, this would top the list.

Afghanistan have kind of done half the job; 99 for 1 after 20 overs.

Mitchell Starc's first spell was for 19 runs from three overs and the second over of his second spell lasted 10 balls! As many as four wides from him - three down the leg side, one way outside off, he even came around the wicket to finally end the over. Not a great day for Starc so far - 5-0-35-0.

Both Gurbaz and Ibrahim were getting set, and rather uncharacteristically Josh Hazlewood bowled a poor ball which Ibrahim put away for four. But three balls later, Gurbaz plays a half-hearted pull with a man stationed at deep square leg, and Gurbaz is so disappointed that he has dropped his bat on the pitch and is looking at the Australian celebrations in disbelief.

Hazlewood has been such a force for Australia in powerplays this World Cup. So economical and so accurate, as usual. His ER is just 4.38 in the first 10 overs this World Cup, only behind Jasprit Bumrah's 2.73 and Taskin Ahmed's 3.89 (minimum 100 balls bowled).

They're face Starc and Hazlewood, among the best bowlers in the world, and both Gurbaz and Ibrahim have done pretty well in the first five. They have respectfully defended the good balls, especially from Hazlewood around off stump, they have survived some early swing from Starc, and they have played their strokes when the ball has been pitched up or wide.

A few boundaries later, Australia remove the two slips they started with, Starc keeps a deep square leg with fine leg in the circle, and bangs in the short ball which Gurbaz top-edges just wide of the keeper on the leg side for a one-bounce four!

Afghanistan 27 for 0 after five.

None other than local boy and World Cup winner Sachin Tendulkar spent two hours in the Afghanistan nets last night, first re-uniting with his former mate Ajay Jadeja, former rival Jonathan Trott, and then spending a considerable time talking to the players.

Get all the details here.

In my view Afghanistan have their best chance of beating Australia by batting first and that's precisely what they're doing after winning the toss. Australia bring in two changes, as expected: Mitch Marsh in for Smith and Maxwell for Cam Green.

Afghanistan have one change too: Naveen-ul-Haq comes in for Fazalhaq Farooqi. So Afghanistan stick with their four spinners and have two quicks today. Slightly surprising, I'd say, because of how India's quicks bowled under the lights here a few days ago against Sri Lanka. But spin is Afghanistan's strength, so why not!

Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 David Warner, 3 Mitch Marsh, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa,11 Josh Hazlewood

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Noor Ahmad