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Glenn Maxwell produced one of the most astonishing one-day innings of all time to rescue Australia from what appeared to be a certain defeat against Afghanistan<\/a> and steer them home to victory by three wickets in Mumbai.<\/p>\n When Mitchell Starc was dismissed to reduce Australia to 91 for seven their cause seemed hopeless chasing the very competitive target of 292 set by Afghanistan.<\/p>\n But Maxwell, helped by a dropped catch and careless fielding, went on a rampage to hit 201 not out from only 128 balls \u2013 including 10 sixes \u2013 on his return from a freak golfing accident that left him concussed last week.<\/p>\n He was ably assisted by his captain, Pat Cummins, with whom he shared an unbeaten eighth-wicket partnership worth 202. They now face South Africa in the semi-finals next week.<\/p>\n Maxwell survived a simple dropped catch and successfully overturned the umpire\u2019s call of lbw in the 22nd over but seemed to take the pair of near-misses as a sign to throw caution to the wind.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very lucky and I suppose just made the most of that,\u201d he said. \u201c[The lbw review] was probably the kickstarter I needed to tell myself: \u2018I need to start playing some shots and be a bit more proactive.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after bringing up his second century of the tournament in the 33rd over, Maxwell began battling a back problem that significantly hampered his ability to run.<\/p>\n But the Afghan attack, which had dismissed every other specialist batter for under 25 runs apiece, had no answers as \u201cThe Big Show\u201d lived up to his billing \u2013 even on one leg.<\/p>\n In the 47th over, Maxwell belted his eighth six to eclipse Shane Watson\u2019s unbeaten 184 from 2011 as the best individual one-day international innings by any Australian man in history.<\/p>\n By hitting his 10th six over deep midwicket Maxwell, who had hit the fastest World Cup ton off 40 balls against the Netherlands earlier in the tournament, sealed the unlikeliest of wins with 19 balls to spare.<\/p>\n After his epic innings, Maxwell said: \u201cI feel shocking! It was obviously quite hot when I was fielding and haven\u2019t done a lot of high-intensity fielding in the heat but it got hold of me today. Luckily. I was able to stick it out to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia had found themselves up against it to confirm a World Cup semi-final spot after Ibrahim Zadran\u2019s unbeaten century helped Afghanistan to post 291 for five. While a place in the knockout stage has appeared probable since the midpoint of the India-based tournament, Australia had the chance to lock it in and cap their remarkable resurgence. But Afghanistan\u2019s biggest total of the tournament put them in a strong position after Zadran (129 not out off 143 balls) partnered with all-rounder Rashid Khan (35no from 18 balls) late to race to a big score.<\/p>\n