Australia have nowhere to hide from England: Finch
MUMBAI: Aaron Finch (100, 106b) and Shaun Marsh (101, 92b) notched up centuries to take Australia to 310/8 against England in the fourth ODI of five-match Royal London series at Chesterle-street on Thursday.
However, even that didn’t prove enough as the hosts rode on a blistering ton from opener Jason Roy (101, 83b) and a whirlwind 29-ball 54 from Jos Buttler to make a mockery of the target, reaching home with six wickets and 32 balls to spare.
Following Australia’s fourth successive defeat in the ongoing series, vice-captain Finch believes at this stage visitors have nowhere to hide against an England side that is full of confidence and setting a new blueprint for how ODIS should be played.
“We are always chasing the game at the moment and it is tough for them. There’s nowhere to hide in this game. We are playing the best in the world,” Finch was quoted as saying by Espncricinfo. “The tone England are setting in one-day cricket is t he benchmark. They’re playing like the No.1 side in the world for a reason. They’re full of confidence and have a lot of depth in their batting.
“They have confidence to know that their Nos. 6, 7, 8 or 9 can get the job done even if things don’t go well at the top of the order. They’ve a pretty good blueprint,” he added.
Australia are without the services of three of their first choice bowlers – Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins -- and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who all are out of the team due to injuries. The young Australian bowlers have so far struggled to find the right length for English conditions and have been taken to cleaners by home batsmen.
Finch believes it’s a good learning experience for the new bowlers. However, he admits that players are committing the same mistakes time and again and it needs to be addressed.
“The bowlers are still learning. They are a young and inexperienced attack and in the past few games we’ve made the same mistakes. That’s something we need to look at. We need to commit to our plans for longer,” he said.
The 31-year-old power hitter, who batted down the order in the last two games before returning to open on Thursday, blamed himself for not staying longer after reaching the three-figure mark. “I probably left a heap of runs out there. I had a good partnership with Shaun Marsh but for me to get out just past 100 was disappointing,” he said. S Marsh 101, A Finch 100, T Head 63; D Willey 4-43);
J Roy 101, J Bairstow 79)