"We certainly helped him along the way" - Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott laments dropped chance of Glenn Maxwell in defeat to Australia

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott rued the dropped chances of Glenn Maxwell in the side's heartbreaking three-wicket defeat to Australia in Mumbai on November 7.

Maxwell entered with Australia struggling at 49/4 in their run chase of 292, which soon became 91/7. Batting on 33, the 35-year-old gifted a straightforward chance to Mujeeb Ur Rahman at short fine leg with Australia still requiring 180 runs for victory.

However, Mujeeb dropped the sitter, and the rest was history as Maxwell scored an unbeaten 201 off 128 deliveries to drive the Aussies to a three-wicket win. There was also a second opportunity earlier to this when Maxwell's hoick just fell short of Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi.

At the post-match press conference, Trott admitted that Glenn Maxwell played an incredible knock but felt the dropped chance freed him up further.

"It's a case of we got ourselves into position and should have capitalized, obviously dropped two chances, and gave a person like Maxwell a chance," Trott said. "He's going to run with it and he almost played with a bit of freedom and almost freed him up a little bit, and gave a bit of momentum back to them.

"I thought it was a spectacular innings, a world-class innings. But, yeah, we certainly helped him along the way."

Jonathan Trott elaborated on the Afghan players having to work on their fielding as the vital lesson learned from the Australia clash.

"You give any world-class player two lives; he's going to hurt you," Trott continued. "So for the players coming in and the players developing all around the game, it's not just about bowling in the nets. It's about practicing your fielding.

"Make sure your fielding is improving all the time. Because it's ended up costing us a game today, an important game. So that's a little thing everyone can learn from."

Maxwell broke several records during his knock, including becoming the first Australian to score a double century in men's ODIs and the first-ever batter to notch 200 in an ODI run chase.

It was Maxwell's second century of the 2023 World Cup, having already recorded the fastest-ever World Cup century against the Netherlands off 40 balls.

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"Everyone just seemed to be waiting for Maxwell to get out" - Jonathan Trott

EMaxwell toyed with the Afghan bowlers during his double century.

Jonathan Trott expressed disappointment at his side waiting for Glenn Maxwell to get out rather than planning to dismiss the batter once he started going on a batting rampage.

The 35-year-old rode his luck until his 30s with the dropped chance and an overturned LBW decision before playing one of the best knocks in cricket history.

"When, unfortunately, the second catch went down, everyone just seemed to be waiting for Maxwell to get out," Trott said. "I didn't see a lot of encouragement or people cheering up each other and encouraging each other. It seemed like the attitude was a little bit, well, hopefully, we'll still win."

The former England batter pointed to how taking care of an opportunity against a side like Australia is paramount.

"When you get an opportunity against a side like Australia, you've got to grab it," Trott added. "They're not going to just give it to you. And you've got to take it. If you get a chance to take it, you've got to take it. And that's the type of things we'll learn from today and what we just spoke about in the dressing-room."

The defeat puts Afghanistan's semi-final destiny out of their own hands, with a maximum of only 10 points possible should they defeat South Africa in their final game.

Locked up in a three-way race with Pakistan and New Zealand for the fourth semi-final spot, Afghanistan must win their final game and hope for the other two sides to slip up in their last outing.