Finch storms Australia into series decider against New Zealand

Australia levelled the five-match T20I series after winning the fourth encounter by 50 runs in Wellington on Friday. Chasing 158, the home side was bundled out for 106 during the chase. 

Kane Richardson picked three wickets for 19 runs in 2.5 overs while Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell scalped a couple of wickets apiece. 

New Zealand lost an early wicket after Martin Guptill was undone by Agar for 7. The hosts lost wickets at regular intervals and were left tottering at 64/7. 

Kyle Kamieson top-scored for New Zealand with 30 off 18. 

Earlier, Australia after batting first scored 156/6 in the allotted 20 overs. The visitors lost an early wicket in the form of Mathew Wade who was sent back in the hut by Mitchell Santner for 14. 

Captain Aaron Finch and Josh Philippe then had a partnership of 24 runs for the second wicket before Philippe departed for 13. While the Aussies lost wickets regularly, Finch held the fort strong at the other end and remained unbeaten at 79 off 55. 

Finch hammered four sixes in the final over of the innings off Jamieson who eventually returned with figures of 0/49 in 4 overs. Ish Sodhi bagged a three-wicket haul for 32 runs in 4 overs while Trent Boult picked up a couple of wickets. 

Australia came back in the series after losing the first two matches. They won the third and fourth encounter led from the front by the skipper. Finch notched up fifties in the two matches on the trot. Apart from this, Finch showed brilliance with his captaincy skills and stationed players and perfect fielding positions. The two teams will now lock horns on Sunday in the decider in Wellington.  

Finch talked about his knock at the end of the match and said, “Just hanging in there towards the end helped me. I had visions of getting 50 off 60 balls or something, but lucky to get the momentum towards the end. I was trying to hit a little too hard initially. We had to take it as deep as we could after we lost a couple of wickets. It was nice to hit a few big ones towards the closing stages. We adapted well with the ball, learning from how NZ bowled. It was important to take pace off the ball. I thought Ashton Agar was superb in the powerplay. We just wanted to take it a bit more deeper than usual”

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson too praised Finch’s innings and admitted that the home side played in a disappointing manner. “The way the Australian side adjusted and the way Finch played, we knew it was going to be tough. Frustrating, but we have to adjust quite quickly. The surface surprised everybody, but it was important to adjust as quickly as possible. It was a competitive total, but it was a poor performance by us,” said Williamson.