Finch Fires Himself Into the Record Books

Aug 30 2013

Finch beat the previous highest t20 score at The Ageas Bowl by 32 runs

ENGLAND V AUSTRALIA 
NATWEST INTERNATIONAL TWENTY20
THURSDAY 29 AUGUST
18:30 – 21:30
THE AGEAS BOWL

Summary: Australia beat England by 39 runs
Australia: 248-6
England: 209-6
Scorecard 

Opener Aaron Finch (156) hit the highest International T20 score ever as Australia blew England away by 39 runs in a record-breaking evening at The Ageas Bowl.

Finch’s incredible knock came from just 63 balls (11 fours, 14 sixes) as the tourists posted a huge 248-6.

The Hampshire crowd’s frustration at home hero Michael Carberry’s omission from the XI was fuelled when England’s top four fell for just 42 runs with Joe Root (90*) the only batsman to surpass fifty as the home side reached 209-6 off their 20 overs.

The victory means Australia lead the NatWest T20 series 1-0 with one match to play.     

For various reasons Australia opener David Warner has been a talking point this summer, and he certainly got the 20,000 sell-out Ageas Bowl crowd talking about him when he was dismissed in quite comical fashion. The left-handers attempted pull-for-six in the second over resulted in the ball, and his bat, flying up in the air to hand an easy chance for wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. And thankfully for England, Buttler caught the ball, and not the bat, to leave Australia 11-1.

However, it was an Australian who didn’t feature in the Ashes who caught the eye next. Opener Finch hit the ball to all parts of the ground to leave the tourists 86-1 after eight overs, and then reach his half-century off just 26 balls.

And despite Hampshire’s Danny Briggs (1-51) picking up the wicket of Shaun Marsh (28) to leave Australia 125-2, Finch could not stop clearing the boundary rope as he smashed his way into the record books. After hitting the second fastest International T20 hundred off 47 balls, the 27-year old surpassed the highest International T20 score (previous best 123) as he smashed the tourists past the 200 mark in the 17^th over.

Seamer Jade Dernbach (3-34) did fight back for England with three late wickets, including that of Finch, but the damage was already done as Australia finished their innings on 248-6 – 23 runs more than the previous highest Twenty20 team total at The Ageas Bowl.

England knew if they were going to chase down Australia’s mammoth total they would need a flying start. And signs were promising when ex-Hampshire batsman Michael Lumb hit 17 off the first over. However, two wickets each from Mitchell Johnson (2-41) and Josh Hazelwood (2-43) left England falling behind the required run-rate on 98-4 at the half-way stage.

Root’s fluent knock of 90*, which was well supported by Ravi Bopara (45) and Buttler (27), did help England reach a respectable 209-6 but in the end it was a convincing victory for Australia. 

Words: Jamie Hopkins
Main Image: LMI Photography
Image Gallery: Zee Images