Pat Cummins has had the audacity to pour cold water on Glenn Maxwell — and the world is loving it.
The Aussie captain had the best seat in the house as Maxwell went berserk in an explosive innings being described as the “greatest of all time” — leading Australia to a three wicket win over Afghanistan on Wednesday morning.
Maxwell is the talk of the cricketing world after bashing 201 not out — shattering a series of records despite having a moment of distress where his body seized up with cramps.
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In the eyes of many, Maxwell single-handedly hauled Australia over the finish line, chasing down Afghanistan’s 292-run total with 19 balls to spare, securing a spot in the Cricket World Cup semi-finals.
Cummins, however, has reminded the world it takes two to tango — and his part in the drama should not be overlooked.
Maxwell picked up the pieces off Australia’s chase at 7/91, putting on an unbeaten stand of 202 for the eighth wicket with Cummins, who made 12 from 68 deliveries.
With the world fawning all over Maxwell, Cummins took a different approach when he took to social media on Wednesday morning, writing: “A lot of credit should go to Maxi, he played his role beautifully”.
The cheeky comment has left plenty of fans giggling with the Twitter post being viewed more than one million times.
It was a particularly audacious comment, considering his innings of 12 from 68 balls is the lowest strike rate (17.64) for an Australian batter making 10 or more in men’s ODI history, according to Daniel Cherny.
Plenty of fans pointed out it was a similar dynamic in Australia’s win over the Netherlands with the pair putting on 103 runs with Cummins contributing just eight of them.
“Maxi was just out of this world. It’s got to be the greatest ODI innings that has ever happened,” Cummins said after the win over Afghanistan.
“Just ridiculous. I don’t know how you describe that.”
He went on to say: “I couldn’t get on strike! I just let Maxi do his thing. How am I going to say anything to someone batting like that?”
Dropped on 33, Maxwell made Afghanistan pay with an astounding 128-ball innings featuring 21 fours and 10 sixes as he became just the third batsman after New Zealand’s Martin Guptill and West Indies’ Chris Gayle to score a World Cup double century.
The list of records Maxwell broke on Wednesday morning is insane:
— The highest score in an ODI run chase
— Highest score at No.5 or lower
— First ever 200-run score in run chase
— Highest score for an Australian batter in an ODI
— Second Fastest 200 in an ODI
Maxwell ended the match in style with nearly three overs to spare when he slammed Mujeeb for another six.
The 35-year-old Maxwell’s highest one-day international score was just his fourth century in 136 matches at this level, but second of the tournament after he scored the fastest hundred in men’s World Cup history, off just 40 balls, against the Netherlands.
There was one more twist late on in a dramatic encounter when Maxwell, on 146, suffered a violent attack of cramp as he hobbled through for a single.
But following on-field treatment a still-struggling Maxwell continued to pulverise Afghanistan’s attack with a dazzling array of shots.
“Horrific, I feel shocking,” Maxwell said after his innings. “It was quite hot when we were fielding, I haven’t done a whole lot of high intensity exercise in the heat. It got a hold of me today, I was lucky to stick it out until the end.
“Everyone wrote us off after two losses, we’ve won six in a row now and I hope that belief passes around our changing rooms.”
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