- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Last night, Aaron Finch was just ten runs short of becoming the first Australian to score three successive ODI centuries.
The Australian captain was dismissed for 90 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, following his 116, and unbeaten 153, in the first two internationals.
For the record Kumar Sangakkara shows the way with four successive ODI tons in 2015 from six batsmen with three – Zaheer Abbas in 1983, Saeed Anwar (1993), Herschelle Gibbs (2002), AB de Villiers (2010), and Quinton de Kock with Ross Taylor, both in 2014.
But the upside was another series win after coming from two-down against India to win 3-2 last month.
Winning six overseas ODIs on the trot is the perfect build-up to defend the Cricket World Cup that starts in England on May 30, when the Australians will be bolstered by the return of Steve Smith, and David Warner, from their 12-month suspensions.
But their return poses more questions, such as who will give way from a very successful side, and who will open the batting?
Last night, Usman Khawaja’s golden run came to an end with a six-ball duck when he needed just three runs to be the leading ODI run-getter in 2019.
Virat Kohli shows the way with 611 runs at 55.54 from Khawaja’s 609 at 55.36, Ross Taylor’s 593 at 74.12, as is Peter Handscomb’s 464 at 51.55 and Rohit Sharma’s 556 at 42.76.
Finch is right up there as well with 542 at 54.20, but he had far too many dot balls in his 90 last night placing unwanted pressure on the rest of the order – 74 dot balls in of a team total of 153 is far too high.
Aaron Finch of Australia bats. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Effectively, Finch faced a tick over 12 overs without troubling the scorer.
As a result Australia made just 266 from their 50 overs, a total that won’t win too many World Cup games.
And it could have been a lot worse had Glenn Maxwell not raised his strike rate dramatically.
Early in his dig he had five off 15, and 12 off 23, but he came home with a wet sail to finish with 71 off 55 with eight fours, and surprisingly just one six.
But it didn’t matter as the remarkable Pat Cummins took up the slack with three quick wickets to have Pakistan’s top order back in the shed for just 16 runs, and they never recovered to be beaten by 80 runs.
Cummins finished with 3-24, taking his 2019 ODI stats to 17 at 14.35 in keeping with his status as the reigning Allan Border Medal holder.
Not to be outdone, leggie Adam Zampa returned a career-best 4-43, and in the process stamped himself as the number one Australian ODI spinner for the World Cup.
Australia’s Adam Zampa in action. (AAP Image/SNPA, John Cowpland)
Most teams are predicting to take two recognised spinners into World Cup games with the wickets expected to turn, but Australia will have to rely on part-time tweakers to support Zampa, like Maxwell and Finch.
Maxwell made a last ditch bid to be in the XI with his 71, as it looks like he’ll be in the mix with Shaun Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis, for two spots.
Their respective 2019 results are Marsh 369 runs at 52.71, Stoinis 236 at 39.33, and Maxwell 290 at 32.22.
On paper the top side looks like – Warner, Finch, Khawaja, Smith, Marsh, Handscomb to keep, Maxwell, Cummins, Starc, Jhye Richardson if his dislocated shoulder comes good, or Josh Hazlewood, and Zampa.
Meaning Stoinis could be the one to dip out, when he’s potentially one of the most dangerous batsmen in ODI world cricket.
But what he lacks is consistency.
Having said that he’ll be a mighty handy bench-sitter if injury, or loss of form, hits the top side.