Consistent Finch stands tall amid Australian middle-over crises

Australia lost seven wickets for 59 runs in 12 overs at the JSCA Stadium to slip to 118 for 8 before DLS calculations left India chasing 48 in six overs, which it completed with nine wickets in hand. Aaron Finch has been one of the few bright spots on the tour, averaging 83 in the three ODIs he was available for and top-scoring with 42 in the T20I. 

Asking him to make sense of Australia’s struggles was unfair, though Finch tried his best to defend the batsmen, explaining that it was a tricky wicket and quite a few players had only recently linked up with the team and facing a high-pedigree Indian side. 

“It was a very tough result,” said Finch. “We got off to a pretty good start with the bat. Losing our way through that middle order again, but it was a very challenging wicket to start with, particularly against spin. The guys were formulating their plans quite nicely, we just seem to keep losing wickets at the wrong time. No one means to get out, India bowled exceptionally well”, Finch heaped praise on the Indian bowlers. 

“It can be tough to put a finger on it when the teams change [for the T20Is]. There are a few different players coming into that middle order having their first hit in India for a while. They haven’t faced guys like Kuldeep Yadav and towards the end of the innings, B Kumar and Bumrah bowling back of a length and it’s skidding through to the stumps, it is not easy to hit. I would, in no way, call today a debacle”. Australia’s middle-order muddle was made worse by the fact that its captain Steven Smith was ruled out of the series after a shoulder injury and is set to return home. 

“It’s disappointing not to have him out there,” admitted Finch. “He is one of the best players in the world in all three formats. He is a quality leader and a quality captain. It would have been nice to have his skill out there but also his game smarts in these conditions.” he said.    

Finch, who knows Maxwell better than most, sympathised with his plight and said his attitude after being dropped has been nothing short of exemplary even if his form has been less than stellar. “He has been brilliant around the group,” offered Finch. 

“It’s always tough when someone gets dropped. I’ve been there, I know that feeling all too well. Particularly on a tour, you tend to go into a shell, but he was the exact opposite. He was up and doing everything to help anybody perform well on the day.”, said Finch.  

“We felt we had to play a little bit more high-risk game through the middle overs to maximise. Unfortunately, we just kept losing wickets. That’s a part of T20. There is not a lot of time to be assessing the pitch for 10-12 overs and then making a decision. If it was a 20over match, I think 135 would have been a fantastic score on that wicket. In the end, I think they [DLS calculations] were generous giving us mid-40s in six overs”, signed off Finch.