Aaron Finch 172

T20 cricket is the place to witness sheer power hitting. Thanks to cricket leagues across different nations, new hard-hitting batsmen have been able to unleash their full potential and enter the international domain Yet, there are some names that rule the game with their explosive hitting skills.

One of them is Australia’s captain, Aaron Finch, who’s a nightmare for the best of bowlers when on song. He has over 3000 T20I runs, including 2 centuries and 19 half-centuries. A successful career also brings in loads of records, and Finch has achieved numerous ones.

But the one that stands out the most is what this article is all about. One of his hundreds is an extremely special one when it comes to T20I cricket and is considered a monumental inning. Why? Well, that knock was 172 runs, the highest-ever individual score in T20I cricket. This broke several records and Finch made headlines.

We have a special look at this iconic knock from him with jaw-dropping numbers to leave every cricket fan stunned and impressed.

Aaron Finch T20 stats

In July 2018, Australia and Pakistan toured Zimbabwe to battle in a T20 tri-series. Australia had won convincingly against Pakistan and locked horns with the host Zimbabwe in the 3rd match of the series.

The game took place in Harare on 3rd July 2018 where Zimbabwe’s skipper Hamilton Masakadza won the toss and elected to field first.

To open the batting for Australia, the opening duo of D Arcy Short, and skipper Aaron Finch walked out to the crease. At the same time, John Nyumbu was brought in To open the bowling for Zimbabwe. Things started with a decent over from Nyumbu, conceding 8 runs in the first over.

Right-arm fast-medium, Blessing Muzarbani came in to bowl the second over. After three good deliveries from the Zimbabwean bowler, Finch lashed onto the length ball outside the off-stump to score the first boundary of the Australian innings. After the end of two overs, Australia stood at 14-0.

Nyumbu came back for the 3rd over and the Aussie heavyweight smashed him for three consecutive boundaries. This was the beginning of a masterclass from Finch. He was striking the ball at 220 with 22(10).

Chris Mpofu was brought in to break the flow of runs but the plan didn’t work out in front of the in-form Australian captain. On the second delivery, Finch went big over mid-on for the first six of the innings.

Finch targeted Muzarbani’s 3rd over to accelerate the pace and completely demolished his line and length in the first three deliveries. He hit him for two consecutive boundaries and then went over the ropes for a sixer over long-off. At the end of 5 overs, Finch was already on 41 off just 19 deliveries.

The last over of the powerplay began and Finch went big once again to make the most out of the field leniency. He scored 10 off the first 3 balls, including a six, hit over cow corner, and brought up his half-century in only 22 balls!

At the end of 6, Australia was cruising at 75-0, with Finch having scored 56 runs off 24 balls! In the next four overs, Finch scored another 24 runs from 11 deliveries and moved to 80(35). Australia was sitting in the driver’s seat with 106-0 at the halfway stage of the innings.

At the end of 12 overs, Finch entered into the nineties with a thumping boundary on the bowling off Chibhabha on the second-last ball of the 12th over.

It looked like Finch was favoring the second-last ball of each over. He made room to open his arms and went inside out to clear the fence, and moved on to 98 runs, just 2 away from reaching the three figures.

Ryan Burl came in to bowl the 14th over of the innings. Finch drove the ball through covers for just a single on the third ball of the over. The strike came back to him for the last delivery of the over and everyone had their eyes glued to the game to witness Finch bring up his hundred.

With a nudge into the gap over the mid-wicket region, Finch hit his 2nd ton in the T20I format in just 50 deliveries, scoring at a blistering strike rate of 200!

In the next 18 deliveries, Finch faced 14 of those and smashed 42 runs with the help of 3 sixes and 4 boundaries. He was in carnage, thrashing each bowler that the Zimbabwean skipper introduced against him.

While Finch was on his merry run, making the lives of bowlers difficult with every over, D Arcy Short stood brilliantly as the second fiddle to him. On the last ball of the 18th over, Finch sent the ball behind the fence for another boundary to bring up 200 runs for the Aussies. This was the first-ever double-century partnership in the T20I format.

Mpofu was asked to bowl the penultimate 19th over of the innings. Finch was just an inch from scoring his second score of 150 in T20Is. After a wide, Finch hits the ball for a quick double to reach the mark of 150 runs!

He already held the record for the highest individual T20 score of 156* which he scored against England in 2013. Finch was all set to break his own record with 11 deliveries still left in the innings.

The next ball went for yet another boundary, and Finch was one hit away from making a new record! Mpofu ran in to bowl the third delivery, and Finch pounced on the slower one for a gigantic six over extra cover.

With this maximum, Finch wrote his name in the history books, breaking his own record of the highest individual T20 score by a batsman!

He went bang on the next delivery, bowled on the fuller side for a consecutive six over the rope! Finch was in no mood to stop and there were 8 balls left, enough for him to rattle the bowling.

Finch stood on 167 runs with one over to go. He had six balls to get past Chris Gayle's record of 175, the highest individual T20 score overall.

Muzarbani was the hurdle in front of him, and he wasn't able to get much of the strike. He had scored just a single after which Short was dismissed. The two added 223 runs for the first wicket and fell just 6 short of breaking the record for the highest-ever partnership in T20s.

On the third ball, Finch chipped in 2 more runs and moved to 170. He had three balls to break Gayle's record but got out in the most unfortunate fashion off a wide delivery!

A full and wide ball outside off stump and Finch tried to clear the field past point. But while playing the shot, he disbalances and falls over, dislodging the stumps with his bat.

Australia ended up scoring 229-2 in their 20 overs, and Finch scored 172 runs out of those in just 76 deliveries. He scored 128 runs in boundaries, the second-most by a batsman in a single T20 innings. This was a batting extravaganza from the skipper, an innings to remember.

With this, he broke several records:

• Highest T20I score by a batsman (75.10 %)

• Most number of runs scored in an innings by a captain

• Highest percentage of runs scored by a single batsman in a T20 innings

• Most number of balls faced by a single batsman in a T20I innings

Aaron Finch 172 scorecard

Aaron Finch 172 against which team

Aaron Finch scored 172 runs against Zimbabwe.