Top 6 Aaron Finch knocks in T20s

There is absolutely no doubt that Aaron Finch is one of the fiercest strikers of the cricket ball in the world at the moment. And also, he is currently the best batsman in this Australian ODI and T20 teams. In the absence of star players David Warner and Steve Smith, the responsibility on the Victorian opener has grown but he has shown that he can adapt and shoulder that extra responsibility. His brute power and big-hitting standards certainly make him one of the most dangerous openers in limited-overs cricket in the world at the moment.

Finch made his First-Class and List ‘A’ debuts in the year 2007 for Victoria and played his maiden T20 game in the 2008/09 Big Bash League. His T20 ability and game came into the limelight with his stupendous performances in the 2010 Champions League T20 tournament where he played a couple of excellent knocks.

Having made his T20I debut in 2011, Finch is now a mainstay and one of the integral (and most important) members of the Australian limited-overs set-up. In fact, in T20Is, Finch is the second highest run-getter for Australia with 1530 runs. Also, he is one of two players (the other being Brendon McCullum) who have got two 150+ scores in T20 cricket history and he is the only one to do it in international cricket.

Hence, let’s take a quick look at some of his top innings in T20 cricket.

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#6 50 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – IPL 2016, Delhi (Qualifier 2)

In 2016, Aaron Finch seemed to be in decent form. He was Australia’s best batsman in the 3-match T20I series against India at home. He then had played decently in the two chances he got in Australia’s disappointing World T20 campaign.

He then had a wonderful start to the IPL where he scored three consecutive fifties for Gujarat Lions (GL). He looked in good touch throughout the season and in the second Qualifier, he played a vital knock. With Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum in the side, Finch had to bat in the middle order after opening for a few games.

In this Qualifier 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, GL were in a spot of bother when he walked out to bat at No. 5. He came in at 63/3 which turned into 83/5 and batted fluently and struck a very good 32-ball 50. Finch had gotten off to a sedate start as he looked to rotate the strike and limit the damage. But once, the fifth wicket fell, Finch went into beast mode as he helped GL score 50 runs in 4.3 overs before he got out. He struck 7 fours and 2 sixes as he gave impetus to GL’s innings in the middle-overs. His efforts helped Gujarat post 162 but David Warner’s magnificent 93 took SRH through to the final.

#5 74 vs India, Melbourne (2016)

This game was Finch’s first T20I in more than 15 months where he injured his hamstring and subsequently missed the large parts of the IPL and NatWest T20 Blast that year.

In the opening game of the 3-match T20I series against India, Finch top-scored for Australia with 44. In the second game, Finch struck an excellent 74 in a chase of 185 and in process once again top-scored for Australia. Chasing a big score, Finch was off to a flier. By the end of the powerplay, Finch had raced off to 43 off 22 balls and had struck 8 boundaries as well.

Finch then got to fifty in just 27 balls as Australia were well on course to chase 185 down. But a flurry of wickets set them back and Finch’s hamstring problem didn’t help either. The Australian openers was struggling with his hamstring and it really took a toll on the running between the wickets. But he kept fighting and was eventually run out for 74 and Australia lost the game by 27 runs.

#4 114* vs Sussex, The Oval, London (2017 - NatWest t20 Blast)

In 2017, Finch had a good start to the Natwest T20 blast but seemed to be in decent touch, playing for Surrey. And towards the back end of the tournament, he struck a fine 114 against Sussex.

After Surrey elected to bat first, Finch got going from the word go and raced away to 30 off 18 deliveries. He then had a few quiet overs before he launched a serious assault on the Sussex bowlers. He brought up his fifty in 35 deliveries and in the last 14 balls he faced, he hit 47 runs. He struck 7 fours and 7 sixes in his 64-ball knock as he hit David Wiese for 30 runs in one over (4 sixes, 1 four and 1 two).

He shared a couple of good partnerships through the innings - 102 with Jason Roy for the opening wicket and an unbeaten 59 with Ollie Pope. Finch was the player of the match for his stupendous ton as he helped Surrey keep their knockout hopes alive.

#3 93* vs Central Districts, Centurion (2010 Champions League)

It had barely been 3 years since Aaron Finch started playing domestic cricket for Victoria when he played this cool, calm and mature innings. In the second edition of the Champions League T20, Victoria Bushrangers squared off against the Central Districts of New Zealand in the 8th game of the tournament.

On the back of Jamie How’s 77, the Districts got to 165. Chasing more than 8 runs an over, Victoria lost two quick wickets after a decent 40-run opening stand between Aaron Finch and Rob Quiney. The former though got stuck in as he took his team over the line with a superb unbeaten innings of 93.

Finch who had got to fifty in 40 balls stayed calm despite wickets falling around him. He then accelerated brilliantly in the end when 48 runs were needed in the last 4 overs. And with 12 runs required in the final over, he held his nerve to take the Bushrangers home with 2 balls to spare. He hit 11 fours and 3 sixes in his 60-ball knock.

#2 172 vs Zimbabwe, Harare (2018)

Finch had a tough IPL season this year where he scored just 134 runs in 9 innings. And in the ODI series against England, he was up and down the order before he struck a ton in the 4th game at the top of the order which almost settled the debate about Finch’s batting position.

He top-scored in the subsequent T20 game against England as he valiantly scored 84. Australia were on a 9-match losing streak in international cricket (3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 1 T20I) and they needed a good start in the tri-series in Zimbabwe. After Billy Stanlake’s 4-fer restricted Pakistan to a low score of 11, Finch blazed his way to an unbeaten 33-ball 68.

But come the second game, he was at his brutal best as he shattered the record books and struck a phenomenal 172. Finch started the carnage in the 3rd over as he hit John Nyumbu who was playing his second T20I for 4 fours. And the in no time he raised his third successive T20I half-century. He continued the barrage of boundaries as he got to his second T20 international ton in just 50 balls. And in his next 26 balls, Finch scored 72 runs as he smashed the hapless Zimbabwe attack all around the Harare Sports Club.

It was a phenomenal innings as he not only broke the record for the highest individual score in T20 internationals but also registered the second highest individual score in T20 history (he fell short by 3 runs). His 172 contributed to 75% of Australia total which is the highest in international cricket. In fact, his opening partner at the other end could only muster 46 in 42 balls and just watched Finch bludgeon and bully the bowlers.

#1 156 vs England, Southampton (2013)

This innings of Aaron Finch when he clobbered the England bowlers all around the Oval and struck a fabulous 156 was just his 7th T20 international innings. In fact, he had played just 13 international innings before this one.

After losing the Ashes 3-0, Australia were looking for a change in fortune and momentum with the change of formats. After being put into bat first by England, Australia lost David Warner early but that didn’t affect the way Australia batted.

The first ball Finch faced, he smashed it over square leg for a six and got off the mark. That was the start of a special innings. He raced away to 44 by the end of the powerplay and got to his fifty in the 8th over as he continued to clobber the bowling. With nothing working in their favour, England tried Joe Root in the 10th over and Finch smashed him for 3 sixes and 2 fours and raced to 91 off 36 balls. It seemed that the record for the fastest T20I hundred (which was held by Richard Levi - 45 balls) would easily be broken. But the Victorian opener slowed down and reached his ton in 47 balls which was the second fastest at that time. He continued the carnage after reaching his century as he was dismissed for a record-breaking score of 156. It was the first 150+ score by a player in T20 Internationals.

Finch smashed 14 sixes which is still the most in a T20 innings by a player in international cricket. His 156 helped Australia score 248 in their 20 overs and they eventually won by 39 runs. But this 156 will go down as one of the best innings in Finch’s career as it came against a quality England bowling attack.