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T20 World Cup | Final: Finch not worried about toss, says AUS must overcome all challenges

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Both New Zealand and Australia have arrived in the final of the T20 World Cup by ashing down totals against England and Pakistan respectively, and the same has been the trend for the entire length of the tournament. 

However, for Australia’s captain Aaron Finch, the toss won’t be a big factor that can’t be overcome. He believes that to become world champions, a side must prevail over all the challenges and somewhere down the line Australia will have to be prepared to win by batting first.

Finch went a bit further and said that he was hoping to lose the toss against Pakistan with an aim to put big runs on the board. He didn’t rule out the advantage of bowling first but said that it can backfire big time if the team batting first goes on to put big runs on the board.

"Absolutely it can be overcome. I said a couple of weeks ago that to win this tournament, at some point you are going to have to win the tournament by batting first," Finch said.

"I was actually hoping to lose the toss because I would've loved to have put a score on the board against Pakistan. It comes down to the day. If you can put a big enough total on the board and make the opposition take risks early in their innings then that's what it's all about and to try and exploit that. I reckon around the world T20 teams love chasing, but it comes with its risks if an opposition puts a big score on."

Australia started their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note against South Africa but their ambitions were threatened by a roadblock in the game against England as their batsmen failed to bat aggressively and bowlers capitulated in the face of an onslaught launched by Jos Buttler.

After that game, Australia have bounced back remarkably and the high-profile win against Pakistan from a precarious situation should give Finch and his men strong momentum going into the final.

However, Finch once again contradicts the popular notion about the game and said that he doesn’t believe momentum plays a role in multi-team tournaments such as the T20 World Cup as all aspects of the game such as the nature of the pitch, opposition and match-ups get changed frequently.

"I don't believe in momentum especially in tournaments like this," he added. You're playing a different opposition all the time so you're not playing on the same wicket, same opposition so it's hard to drill into any positive match-ups you might get. It's about the team who turns up and executes on the day. T20 cricket can be brutal at times."

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