Australian opener Aaron Finch sealed the debate surrounding his form for good with an outstanding century against Sri Lanka in the first warm-up game of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval in London. Going into the game, there was considerable pressure on Finch, as the right-hander had been dropped not so long ago from the ODI setup for the home series against Pakistan in January.
However, post a productive IPL season, Finch found himself to be in the reckoning again.
He repaid the faith of the selectors with a superb knock, as he helped Australia chase down the target of 319 against Sri Lanka. In a knock which included 11 boundaries and 6 maximums, Finch blazed his way to 137 off just 109 deliveries as Australia began their tour of England on a high.
Post the game in an interaction with the press, the right-hander admitted that he was quite confident about succeeding in England at the top of the order.
“I think you go through patches when you feel like you’re playing well and then you go through patches when you feel like you’re not playing well and feel that everything is falling away or slipping away,” a relieved Finch explained his poor form.
People within the Cricket Australia setup were entertaining thoughts of partnering the in-form Chris Lynn with David Warner at the top of the order, after the former set the IPL ablaze with some high octane knocks. But with Finch emerging as a match winner, those plans will certainly be rendered futile.
“I always had confidence that I’d be in the squad. I’ve played for the best part of five years now and had some pretty decent one-day cricket so I was always confident, but it’s not up to me, is it? “Lynny’s been in great form in the IPL and there have been some talking points around that throughout the media, so it was nice to get some runs today.”
Speaking about the local conditions, Finch said,
“The outfield here was lightning and the wicket was beautiful so anytime you beat the fielder, it was four. Which gives you great confidence as a batter, when you hit a couple of balls in the gap early on and you look up and you’re on 15 or 20 pretty quick. It’s just a great place to play, I love playing over here.”