Aaron Finch reveals road ahead for Australia: The Australian captain didn’t hesitate from admitting a lacklustre performance across departments tonight.
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Australia captain Aaron Finch believes that his team didn’t recover from a 25-ball 56-run opening partnership between New Zealand batters Finn Allen and Devon Conway in the first ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match tonight.
Allen, in particular, was unforgiving in the powerplay hitting five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 262.50 in his 16-ball 42. Dismissed in the powerplay due to his high-risk approach, Allen’s blistering knock was followed by Conway scoring 92* (58) with the help of seven fours and two sixes after Finch invited the Kiwis to bat first at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The pair played an instrumental role in laying a foundation for New Zealand to score 200/3 in 20 overs. Complimented well by their bowlers namely Tim Southee (3/6) and Mitchell Santner (3/31), New Zealand bundled out defending champions for 111 in 17.1 overs to register an 89-run victory.
Fifth-biggest T20I victory (by runs) for the Black Caps, it was their biggest against Australia in this format. All in all, it was the second-biggest T20I defeat for the hosts after they registered their lowest innings total at home.
Aaron Finch reveals road ahead for Australia after huge loss vs New Zealand at the SCG
Finch, who didn’t hesitate from admitting a lacklustre performance across departments, acknowledged how they were found wanting in both the innings. A monumental loss has also resulted in Australia’s NRR (Net Run Rate) dropping to -4.450.
“Needed a big start, that didn’t happen and we were outplayed completely. He [Finn Allen] got off to a flier. We needed early wickets which didn’t happen and when we chased, we lost too many wickets. We weren’t good enough with the net run-rate taking a bad hit,” Finch told the broadcaster during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Not mincing words with respect to the road ahead for them, Finch strictly spoke against losing another Super 12 match. Readers must note that the Aussies are next to face Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday. “We play Sri Lanka next. Four games left, need to win everything and have some luck on our side,” Finch added.
Finch’s comment on luck came in the aftermath of his opening partner David Warner getting out in a bizarre manner after hitting the ball twice. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis, meanwhile, was out to an acrobatic Superman catch by New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips.
