Australia’s Aaron Finch celebrates making 156 runs off 63 balls during the T20 international match against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, southern England, yesterday.
SOUTHAMPTON, England: Aaron Finch’s record-breaking innings saw Australia to a first competitive international win in 200 days as they beat England by 39 runs in the first Twenty20 international at Southampton yesterday.
Man-of-the-match Finch’s stunning 156, the highest individual score in all Twenty20 internationals, was the cornerstone of Australia’s 248 for six, itself the second-highest team score at this level.
England, who wrapped up a 3-0 Ashes series win with a draw at The Oval on Sunday, unsurprisingly lost early wickets when faced with such a colossal chase and finished on 209 for six.
Victory saw Australia go 1-0 up in a two-match series that concludes in Durham tomorrow.
Australia hadn’t won a major international match since a 17-run victory over the West Indies at Melbourne on February 10 saw them complete a 5-0 one-day international series clean sweep.
Finch’s runs came from just 63 balls and the 26-year-old Victorian opener, playing just his seventh match at this level, comfortably surpassed the previous Twenty20 world record of 123 set by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum against Bangladesh at Pallekele in September last year.
Remarkably, Finch got off the mark, reached his 50, hundred and 150 with sixes.
Indeed his 14 sixes were also a world record for the most in any individual T20 international innings, with Finch also striking 11 fours.
Finch’s century was only the 10th in all T20 internationals, the first by an Australian and the first by any batsman at this level in England.
His extraordinary innings ended when he was bowled by seamer Jade Dernach who, in the midst of the mayhem, took three wickets for 34 runs in four overs. AFP
