[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Week Four Roundup

As Australia put one foot in the semis, with South Africa and India already confirmed and facing each other head to head tomorrow, the race is well and truly on for the final berth. It's been a tournament of two halves so far for New Zealand, whose four wins on the trot have given way to four defeats and left them in peril, and they'll fully deserve to crash out if they blow their final match against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Of the two other members of the Eight Points Club, Afghanistan are the team with two bites of the cherry that could see them compensate for their poor net run-rate by raising their tally to 12, but to do so would require two more historic victories over Australia and South Africa. More likely to take advantage of the Kiwi predicament are Pakistan, whose final match next Saturday is against some hapless pack of muppets who prepared for this fifty-over tournament by knocking a hundred balls around.

Individual records are also there for the making; with at least three more matches to come, Quinton de Kock is one century away from equalling Rohit Sharma's five at a tournament in 2019, and if he does it with 129 or more it'll beat Tendulkar's twenty-year-old record haul. Meanwhile, the five-over five-fer that blew Sri Lanka apart yesterday also made Mohammed Shami India's greatest World Cup wicket-taker, the final scalp of Kasun Rajitha the one that lifted him clear of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan onto 45 wickets. While it would take an effort in the matches remaining, the current top five bowlers also stand a chance of overhauling Mitchell Starc's record 27 from 2019.

Leading Run-Scorers

1. Quinton de Kock (SA) - 545
2. Rachin Ravindra (NZ) - 523
3. Virat Kohli (IND) - 442
4. David Warner (AUS) - 428
5. Rohit Sharma (IND) - 402


Leading Wicket-Takers

1. Adam Zampa - (AUS) - 19
2. Dilshan Madushanka (SRI) - 18
3. Marco Jansen (SA) - 16 [for 321]
4. Shaheen Afridi (PAK) - 16 [for 409]
5. Jasprit Bumrah (IND) - 15

[themaclad]

Hapless bunch of muppets

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Afghanistan are going for it! After setting 292 to win in Mumbai, they've got Australia 90-6. Hard to see the Aussies getting out of this.

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91-7. They'll be lucky to bat thirty overs here.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

After narrowly surviving two early scares, a Maxwell century has Afghanistan on the ropes. If he stays in, Australia will pull off the great escape.

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Now the biggest 8th-wicket partnership in World Cup history, surpassing Houghton/Butchart for Zimbabwe at Hyderabad in 1987. Australia 211-7, needing 81 off fourteen overs, and if Maxwell carries them over the line it'll be one of the great knocks of all time.

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All the more so as he's visibly struggling with cramp now.

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Now the biggest 8th-wicket partnership in any ODI, beating the 138 from Kemp and Hall for South Africa vs India in November 2006.

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Maxwell completes his 150. Run a ball required, but he's no longer capable of running. It's boundaries or bust from here.

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The guy can't move his feet and Afghanistan still can't bowl to him. Incredible.

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32 needed from 36, and Maxwell has managed to keep the strike. Even if they get him out now, Australia are probably favourites from here.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Maxwell reaches 179, the new highest World Cup score for an Australian, surpassing David Warner's 178 vs Afghanistan in 2015.

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Back-to-back sixes. Afghanistan out of ideas, the wheels are well and truly off.

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And Maxwell makes it a double-century as he wraps up the match. Genuinely astonishing innings, you have to hand it to him and say it's the greatest played in a World Cup, if not in the whole format. Third-biggest knock in World Cup history (tenth-biggest in ODIs overall), but the biggest ever in a chase. Feel for Afghanistan, they should have had him on 33, but they were guilty of dishing up shite and waiting for him to hole out, and it just never happened.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Another World Cup giant-killing for the ages as minnows England manage to humble the mighty Netherlands.

[themaclad]

Aussies win toss in final and bowl, goes against the grain but up the Convicts

[themaclad]

240 all out

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Hmm, potentially underpar. But if anyone can defend 240, Shami and Bumrah can.

[themaclad]

Perfect by Australia deserved it