Maxwell's World Cup double is history for Afghanistan

The last time Afghanistan faced Australia in an ODI, Glenn Maxwell produced arguably the greatest innings the format has ever seen with his unforgettable double century to secure a remarkable chase in Mumbai.

It ripped away a game that appeared a certain Afghanistan victory when Australia were 91 for 7 chasing 292, but they have insisted there is no extra focus purely on Maxwell ahead of a winner-takes-all clash in Lahore with a semi-final spot on the line.

A significant reason for that is Afghanistan know they can beat Australia: last year at the T20 World Cup they prevailed by 21 runs despite Maxwell's 59 off 41 balls. His dismissal to Gulbadin Naib was the defining moment of the game

"You think we will come only to play with Maxwell?" Hashmatullah Shahidi said when asked about the 2023 World Cup meeting. "We have planning for all Australian team. I know that he played really well in 2023 World Cup, but that's part of the history.

"After that, we beat them in [the] T20 World Cup. We think about all [the] opposition team, we are not coming to the ground to plan on [an] individual player. We will try our best to come with the planning and we are not playing only Maxwell - we are playing Australia."

A second consecutive ICC tournament semi-final beckons if Afghanistan prevail on Friday, but they insist their minds won't wander that far. "We will try to play positive game - just like we defeated England today, we hope to beat Australia as well," Shahidi said. "We won't put that pressure on ourselves by thinking too much about the semi-final qualification."

Afghanistan will enter the match less than 48 hours after the eight-run victory over England highlighted by Ibrahim Zadran's magnificent 177. He also has good memories of facing Australia having scored 129 in that Mumbai match then 51 off 48 balls in the T20 World Cup victory in St Vincent.

"It's never easy for a player to return from injury and make such a strong comeback in a high-stakes match," Shahidi said. "I am extremely happy for him because he is a very talented and hardworking player. When players like him perform well, as a leader, it makes me very happy and hopeful for the future. Ibrahim played a brilliant innings, and I pray that he continues to perform like this always."

The two matches so far in Lahore have seen all four innings pass 300 with Australia chasing down 352 against England in their opening match. Pace bowler Azmatullah Omarzai was Afghanistan's match-winner yesterday with 5 for 58, but there was enough assistance for the spinners to provide encouragement. Noor Ahmad conceded just 51 from his 10 overs.

"There was support," Shahidi said. "I think the spinners bowled also really well. In this kind of condition our spinners are very good, and if they have a little bit help, I know they will do it for the team."