World Cup 2019: Finch breaks Ponting’s record of highest World Cup score by an Aussie captain

What’s the story?

En route to his 153-run knock against Sri Lanka on Sunday, Australian captain Aaron Finch went past Ricky Ponting to register the highest score ever by an Aussie captain in the World Cup.

In case you didn’t know…

The record was held by Ponting for as many as 16 years. The now retired cricketer had scored 140 runs off 121 balls against India in the 2003 World Cup final, almost single-handedly winning the game for his team.

The heart of the matter

Australia are on a bit of a roll in the ICC World Cup 2019. They have recorded three wins in their four completed matches, and are placed at the third position in the points table with a decent net run rate of +0.570.

In their match against Sri Lanka, they lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Finch opened the batting with David Warner. The two of them started off pretty steadily, before losing Warner with 80 runs on the board and 16 overs bowled.

Following Warner’s dismissal, Finch stitched together a useful partnership with Steven Smith. The Lankans were finally able to get Finch out in the 42nd over, but by then the damage was already done.

The captain had scored a blistering 153 runs off 132 deliveries, setting up a platform for the eventual score of 334.

The Aussie captain was satisfied with his knock and said in the innings break,

“I feel like I have played reasonably well. If you hit the middle of the bat often, that gives you confidence. Not too many records for Australia but nice to have one.”

Finch is now placed at the third position in the list of the highest individual score in the World Cup for Australia.

What’s next?

After setting this huge total, the Aussies will be looking to get their 4th win against the struggling Lankans, and climb further up the table.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World Cup points table, news, world cup most runs, live scores, schedule, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.