Finch slams 172, betters own mark

HARARE: Australia captain Aaron Finch revelled in his recordbreaking innings against Zimbabwe, saying it was “up there” as one of the best innings he has ever played. Finch powered his way to 172, beating his own world record high score in Twenty20 Internationals. Finch and fellow opener D’Arcy Short put on 223, another world record.

Australia reached 229 for two, the highest total ever scored against Zimbabwe in a T20 international as a slew of records were broken during Australia’s 100run victory.

“It’s nice to break my own record,” said Finch. “Satisfying. It’s something that I’ll look back on when I’ve finished playing and be really proud of.”

Finch cracked his first six in the fourth over of the morning, and with his third he brought up a 22-ball half century - his fastest in Twenty20 internationals.

Australia took 75 from the Powerplay, with Finch doing the bulk of the scoring while fellow opener D’Arcy Short was content to turn the strike over to his bighitting partner.

Finch brought up his second T20I hundred at the end of the 14th over, taking just 50 deliveries. Four overs later, his 15th four took Australia’s score to 200, and he then moved beyond 150 with a swipe to deep midwicket. He moved beyond the previous world record high score of 156, which he scored against England in 2013, with his ninth six.