Submitted by Amith Chakrapani on

Flashback Friday - When Aaron Finch tore through the English bowling line-up with a world-record 156

18 Sep, 2020
Editor
Flashback Friday - When Aaron Finch tore through the English bowling line-up with a world-record 156
18 Sep, 2020 By Editor

There are not many players in the world who can thump the ball as cleanly as Aaron Finch. The brute from Victoria who has over a decade’s experience slaughtering bowling lineups in T20 competitions around the world, and has now turned into one of the best openers in limited overs cricket, is a prototypical opener for a T20 game. Back in 2013, when Australia had gone 200 days without a win in international cricket, it was Finch who proved to be the inspiration to knock them out of the doldrums.

A newbie of only 6 T20 internationals, although he had gained a wealth of experience playing T20 cricket across various leagues, Finch tore into the English bowling lineup as if he had decided to take out all the anger and frustration of a 200-day winless streak on them. Opening the batting, Finch reached his half century at a strike rate of more than 200. He then raced to his century by the time he had faced another 22, nearly missing out on breaking the then-record fastest international century - Richard Levi’s 45-ball effort. 

If for most batsmen a century would signify an evening of great work, Finch would not stop feasting. Not when there were 6 more overs to go. He did not need many more to notch up his next fifty. The 150-run landmark surpassed within just 13 more. To put that into context, the fastest-ever T20 50 is Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball hammering which involved a 36-run Stuart Broad over. 

Finch’s 156 off only 63 balls took Australia to 248 at the Ageas Bowl, a total which England fell well short of. It was at the time the highest-ever T20 international score going past Brendon McCullum’s 123 against Bangladesh. Finch would go on to best his own record five years later against Zimbabwe with a glorious 172. A stunning batting display including 14 sixes was at the time the most in an innings by a player which has since been only surpassed once.

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