Aaron Finch blasted 172, which became the highest individual score in Twenty20 Internationals as Australia beat Zimbabwe for the first time in the format.
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In Twenty20 Internationals, there was a remarkable stat that Zimbabwe had against Australia. For 11 years, they held a positive winning ratio against the Aussies in the format. In the inaugural World T20 in 2007, Zimbabwe’s unfancied players got the better of a mighty Australian line-up that included Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist. The win in Cape Town gave Zimbabwe a ray of hope in their dark days in that period.
Even in 2010, during the warm-up match in the West Indies, Zimbabwe had beaten Australia by one run. From that epic match in Cape Town, Zimbabwe and Australia did not play any official Twenty20 Internationals. However, that proud 11-year record would end on July 3, 2018. In the tri-series between Australia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, Australia finally got the better of Zimbabwe. It was all thanks to Aaron Finch, who created a world record on that day in Harare.
Finch had already made heads turn in 2013 when he blasted a world record 156 against England. His knock included 11 fours and 14 sixes and it earmarked him for limited overs greatness in the next decade for Australia. His 156 came off only 63 balls. In that same year, Chris Gayle rewrote the history books with a blazing 175 in the IPL which pushed the barriers of Twenty20 hitting even further.
Australia had made a great start in the first match against Pakistan, dismissing them for 116. Billy Stanlake was the star with 4/8. Finch blasted 68 off 33 balls as Australia romped hime by nine wickets with nine overs to spare. Zimbabwe had already lost to Pakistan in their first game and they came into the contest low on confidence. Zimbabwe chose to field against Australia but their plans immediately fell awry.
Finch blasted three consecutive fours off John Nyumbu and launched Christopher Mpofu for a big six. The carnage was only beginning for Zimbabwe as Finch teed off.
The Australian opener hit another big six of Blessing Muzarabani as he neared fifty. When Finch hit two fours and a six off Mpofu, he had reached his fifty off 22 balls which was the fastest ever for him. On air, the commentators were saying that Finch was playing as if he was in the nets. Finch did not slow down on reaching his fifty as he blasted Ryan Burl for a six and a four. Tendai Chisoro was the only bowler keeping Australia quiet and until the final over of his spell, he had great figures. Finch hit yet another six and he moved to 98 as Chisoro ended his bowling with figures of 4-0-19-0.
D’Arcy Short hit two sixes off Burl but Finch notched up his century off just 50 balls. The opening partnership reached 150 and the carnage escalated. Finch hit two more sixes off Nyumbu as Australia eyed 200. The Australian opener hit three fours and a six off Solomon Mire, with Zimbabwe not helping themselves by dropping Finch on 133.
When Finch hit a four to deep midwicket, he and Short notched up the first double-century stand in the history of Twenty20 Internationals. Finch then went on to break the world record for the highest individual Twenty20 International score by hammering two sixes and a four off Mpofu. In the final over, Short fell to Muzarabani to end the 223-run stand. Finch, surprisingly, was hit wicket but his knock of 172 was a new world record. Australia would end on 229/2.
The hosts had no chance to chase the total. All the Zimbabwe players got starts but none converted them into something big. The highest score was 28 by Mire. Ashton Agar took 2/16 while Andrew Tye took 3/12. Australia won the match by 100 runs and finally broke a jinx. Australia now had Twenty20 International wins against every nation in the planet. They joined Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and India in that elite group to achieve the feat.
The tournament would prove to be bittersweet for Australia. They lost to Pakistan in their next game but beat Zimbabwe again. In the final, they squared off against Pakistan. Short and Finch put on a 95-run stand, with Short hitting 76. Finch missed his fifty by three runs but Pakistan staged a fightback. Mohammad Amir took three wickets and Shadab Khan chipped in with two as Australia ended on 183/8.
Despite losing two wickets in the first over, Fakhar Zaman showed his class as he blasted 91. Shoaib Malik’s 43 gave Pakistan a close win by six wickets with four balls to spare. Australia may have lost the tournament, but Finch made it very memorable with his consistency and world record performance.
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