“We've come here to win the series" : Aaron Finch

[MenInG]

Australia T20I captain led the way with 33-ball 68 and was helped by Billy Stanlake's 4/8 as Australia completed a demolition of Pakistan.

Billy Stanlake’s 4/8 and captain Aaron Finch’s 68* off 33 helped Australia romp to a commanding victory over Pakistan in the second game of the Twenty20 International tri-series in Harare on 2 July. Their aggressive approach was exactly what the team required after the disastrous tour of England.

This win was Australia’s first under the new coach Justin Langer and put an end to the team’s six-match losing streak in limited-overs cricket. The towering Stanlake troubled the Pakistan batsmen with extra bounce and got all of his wickets with the batsmen trying to fend off short balls.

Billy Stanlake (centre) picked up four wickets for eight runs Billy Stanlake (centre) picked up four wickets for eight runs
“My role is to be aggressive upfront and take wickets in the Powerplay and make it hard for the opposition to get on a roll,” he said. “I’ve probably had faster spells, but the main thing is to take early wickets.

“We had a disappointing tour of the UK. [So it is] great for us to get a nice start in the series … The key message we’ve been talking about is doing the simple things well, stick to our strengths. And that probably got away from us in England.”

“The tone the bowlers set with the ball on a pretty good wicket was fantastic. To see them be aggressive and bowl fast was nice,” said Finch. “[We] just bowled aggressively and I hung on to some catches. You know how important it is to get wickets in the Powerplay in T20s.

Andrew Tye picked up three wickets towards the end of the Pakistan innings Andrew Tye picked up three wickets towards the end of the Pakistan innings

“We've come here to win the series. We've been putting in plans, it did not come off in England. It was a pretty polished performance here.”

Stanlake bowled all four of his overs on the trot with the new ball, and by the time he finished his spell in the seventh over Pakistan had already lost four wickets with just 24 runs on the board. He said he was happy to do so again if the captain asked for it.

“With the early wickets, Finch kept going with me. It’s the first time I have bowled out in one go. Finch was terrific in the field and with the bat,” he said.

Stanlake was referring to Finch's one-handed stunner to dismiss Hussain Talat and two other catches he took standing at first slip. Then, the captain and opener struck a rapid-fire half-century, studded with four fours and six sixes.

Finch’s attacking innings supported by D’Arcy Short (15) and Travis Head (20) helped Australia chase the target of 117 in just 10.5 overs. "At times, when you're chasing a small total, you try to break the game open," said Finch after the game. "If you manage to break the game open, suddenly you’re chasing four or five runs per over and that makes it a lot easier."

Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, was understandably disappointed after the loss and conceded that Pakistan lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. “Toss is very important, if you lose too many wickets in first six overs, you can't survive in the match,” he said.

“Credit to Stanlake, he bowled with pace and bounce. [We have got] plenty to work on.”


https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/770428

 

[hadi123]

Hardly surprising. Australia, despite going through a bad patch, are never just there to make up the numbers!

 

[hadi123]

Well if he plays like he did today he will win them the series himself!

 

[giri26]

Aaron Finch asks for more despite Harare blitz

Australia have snapped a lengthy losing streak and recorded two record-breaking victories in as many days, but captain Aaron Finch insists they still have plenty of scope to improve as they chase their first series win under new coach Justin Langer.

Following their nine-wicket thrashing of world No.1 Pakistan on Monday, Australia followed up by dismantling hosts Zimbabwe on Tuesday, cruising to a 100-run win on the back of Finch's T20 international record score of 172.

The two wins in Harare broke a streak of nine consecutive defeats in all forms of the game and comes fresh off a "horrendous" 0-6 hammering on their recent tour of the UK.

But Finch says simply enjoying some victories again is not enough and urged his players to continue to do "the basics well enough for long enough".

"There (is) improvement to be had," Finch said in Harare.

"I thought we were sloppy in the field at times (against Zimbabwe), I thought there was an opportunity to bowl a little bit tighter at times.

"I know they came hard, but I thought we could have bowled a few more good balls and made (them) hit us off a length.

"So there's still room for improvement (and) in terms of complacency, I don't think so at all."

So dominant have Australia been in their two resounding victories that only three of their batsmen - Finch, D'Arcy Short and Travis Head - have faced more than one delivery out in the middle.

It means the likes of Nic Maddinson - who has been recalled to the side for the first time in almost four years but is yet to face a ball – as well as Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey and will head into Thursday's re-match with Pakistan well short of time in the middle.

But Finch is confident his powerful middle order will be ready to fire - if given the chance.

"The guys have been training very hard," Finch said. "They're out there (training) now, the guys who haven't had much of a hit.

"Obviously you can't replicate match conditions but they're still getting as much work in as possible so I'm not concerned about that."

Australia’s return to form this week has been a welcome change following the tour of England, where a undermanned side suffered just their second-ever 0-5 ODI whitewash and were then beaten soundly in a one-off T20I at Edgbaston.

It represented the worst possible start for the new Langer era, which came after the tumultuous fallout from the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal that left the side needing a new captain, vice-captain and coach.

But throughout the UK tour, players insisted the mood in the camp remained positive, and Finch re-iterated that the results in England were due largely to the form of the rampant home side and the inexperience of the tourists rather than any deeper issues in the squad.

"Obviously the results were horrendous for us, we lost all six games," he said. "But we couldn't question how we trained or the intensity that we trained at.

"I think when you get a bit of an inexperienced group together and you get on the back foot early, you're chasing your tail a lot and England just did not let up. They didn't give us a sniff to get back into the series at all. That's the quality side that they are at the moment.

"I think the mood in the camp was always positive. And I think coming here, we've brought that confidence that we had and probably a bit more self-belief coming to a new tournament against two sides that we haven't played in a while, compared to a (England) team that dominated us last summer and did so again.

"New opposition and a new environment has made a world of difference so far."

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/aar...tri-series-record-highlights-video/2018-07-04

 

[Kroll]

'We didn't get going all day' – Aaron Finch after first loss of the series

Finch conceded that Australia were sloppy in the field and gave away too many runs, while his counterpart Sarfraz Ahmed lauded his bowlers, especially teenager Shaheen Afridi.

Pakistan consigned Australia to their first defeat of the tri-nation Twenty20 International series in Zimbabwe by beating them by 45 runs in match No.5 at the Harare Sports Club. Helped by Fakhar Zaman’s 42-ball 73 and Shaheen Afridi’s 3/37, Pakistan restricted Australia to 149/7 after having put up 194/7.

Zaman set the tone for his team at the top of the order, hitting nine fours and three sixes before getting dismissed in the 15th over. He was helped by Hussain Talat (30), Shoaib Malik (27) and some lower-order hitting by Asif Ali, who scored a quick-fire 37 off just 18 balls to push the Pakistan total towards 200.

Zaman has been in good touch throughout the series, having scored 61 and 47 in the games against Zimbabwe. Was this knock against a more formidable Australia his best of the series so far?

“Yes, you can call it [my best innings] because in the previous games we were not getting good starts. We tried and got one here,” Zaman said after the match.

In Pakistan’s first league game against Australia on 2 July, Zaman was dismissed cheaply for 6 and revealed that Pakistan were ready for a short-ball barrage, as that had been Australia’s plan in their first meeting.

“In the first game [against Australia] they bowled us bouncers [so] we were expecting more bouncers and were ready for that. We were looking for 160-170 but got to 194.”

Afridi, playing his first game in the series, was impressive in just his second T20I, getting the wickets of an in-form Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short. Was there a particular plan for the Australian batsman? “I try to bowl according to the match situation,” Afridi answered.

At 18 years of age, Afridi’s introduction to international cricket has come quite early. However, the left-arm fast bowler feels no pressure of the big stage thanks to the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“Since I have started playing the PSL, there has been no nervousness regarding facing international teams. I don’t feel any pressure now while playing international cricket and I am ready to play whatever role is assigned to me.”

Afridi’s captain Sarfraz Ahmed was happy with the bowler’s effort as he was with the rest of the bowling unit. At the end of the previous match against Zimbabwe, even though Pakistan won that game and qualified for the final, he had expressed disappointment with the bowlers.

“Today’s pitch was a difficult one for me as a captain. If you pitch the ball up, it was easy to hit on the up. But credit goes to my bowlers,” Ahmed said.

“We gave [Afridi] an opportunity because we have been carrying him for the last two-three series. So we gave him a chance, and the way he bowled today ... it was excellent bowling. [Mohammad] Amir, Shadab [Khan], [Shoaib] Malik and [Usman] Shenwari all did a great job.”

The captain acknowledged Zaman and Ali’s knocks as well. “It was not an easy wicket to bat on, but the way he batted ... credit goes to him,” he said.

Ali, who came in to bat at No.6 provided Pakistan the final push by hitting three fours and two sixes, and his cameo was the difference between the 160-170 Pakistan were expecting and the 194 they eventually got. “We need that sort of a guy who can hit sixes while batting at No.6 and he has been a good induction to our team,” Ahmed said.

Finch, who has been in imperious touch with the bat, conceded that the team didn’t get going in any of the three departments.

“I think we didn’t get going all day, with ball and in the field and then with the bat we could not develop any partnerships,” he said.

“I thought it was a 170 wicket. I thought we let them get away a little bit. Our fielding was a bit sloppy as well so it was a disappointing day all around.

“You like to keep winning all the time. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that today. We have got a short turnaround for Zimbabwe tomorrow and hopefully come out here on Sunday and turn it around.”

Australia play Zimbabwe in the last league game of the series tomorrow before clashing with Pakistan again in the final on Sunday 8 July.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/776352

 

[The_Odd_One]

We were told that Pakistan is the only team taking this series seriously and Australia are fielding their 3rd string team, etc