Published: Aug 30, 2013, 11:14 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:51 AM (IST)
Aaron Finch scored 156 runs from 63 balls against England. He struck 14 sixes and 11 fours in his innings © Getty Images
Aaron Finch blazed his way to glory with a monumental 156 off 63 deliveries against England at Southampton. This innings gave Australia their first win on the tour. Sarang Bhalerao reasons out why the innings was special.
What Southampton saw in the evening of August 29, 2013, was total carnage. The 70-minute stay on the wicket saw Aaron Finch produce a compelling innings that left everyone spellbound. The quality of hitting was top-notch. He hit his first ball over deep square-leg for a six and was unstoppable. He brought his half-century with a huge six down the ground, the team’s total of 100 with a six off Joe Root, his century with a top-edged pull over fine-leg for a six, team’s total of 200 with a vintage hit over left-arm spinner Danny Briggs and his 150 with a six over mid-wicket.
Australia beat England by 39 runs in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) in Southampton on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Finch’s 156 was the highest individual score in T20Is and his century off 47 balls was the second fastest ton behind Richard Levi (45 balls) of South Africa.
The innings also included 14 sixes which is another world record in T20Is. He struck 11 fours as well.
Let us look at the highest individual scorers in T20Is:
| Player | Runs | Balls | Strike-rate | 4s | 6s | Boundaries strike-rate | Sixes strike-rate |
| Aaron Finch (Aus) | 156 | 63 | 247.61 | 11 | 14 | 2.52 | 4.5 |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 123 | 58 | 212.06 | 11 | 7 | 3.22 | 8.28 |
| Richard Levi (SA) | 117* | 53 | 229.41 | 5 | 13 | 2.94 | 4.07 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 117 | 57 | 205.26 | 7 | 10 | 3.35 | 5.7 |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 116* | 56 | 207.14 | 12 | 8 | 2.80 | 7 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) | 104* | 57 | 182.45 | 12 | 5 | 3.35 | 11.4 |
| Martin Guptill (NZ) | 101* | 69 | 146.37 | 9 | 6 | 4.6 | 11.5 |
| Suresh Raina (Ind) | 101 | 60 | 168.33 | 9 | 5 | 4.28 | 12 |
‘Boundaries strike-rate’ is the factor which indicates how many deliveries a batsman takes to hit a boundary or a six in his innings. The ‘Sixes strike-rate’ indicates the number of balls taken by the batsman to hit a six in his innings.
As you can see from the list above, Finch found a boundary (includes sixes as well) almost after every three deliveries, which is a record in T20Is. He also hit a six after every four to five deliveries which is an astonishing feat.
Levi hit 13 sixes in 53 deliveries against New Zealand, which provides a better strike-rate compared to Finch’s 14 off 63 balls.
Finch’s innings is the third highest individual T20 score behind Chris Gayle’s mammoth 66-ball 175 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 and Brendon McCullum’s 158 off 73 balls in the inaugural IPL.
Here’s a list of top five individual scorers in T20s:
| Player | Runs | Balls | Strike-rate | 4s | 6s | Boundaries strike-rate | Sixes strike-rate |
| Chris Gayle (RCB) | 175* | 66 | 265.15 | 13 | 17 | 2.2 | 3.88 |
| Brendon McCullum (KKR) | 158* | 73 | 216.43 | 10 | 13 | 3.17 | 5.61 |
| Aaron Finch (Aus) | 156 | 63 | 247.61 | 11 | 14 | 2.52 | 4.5 |
| Graham Napier (Essex) | 152* | 58 | 262.06 | 10 | 16 | 2.23 | 3.62 |
| Louis van der Westhuizen (Namibia) | 145 | 50 | 290 | 14 | 12 | 1.92 | 4.17 |
Other records
• Australia scored 248 in 20 overs which is the second highest score in an innings behind Sri Lanka’s 260 for six against Kenya in the 2007 World T20.
• Joe Root conceded 27 runs in an over, which is the second most expensive over bowled by an Englishman after Stuart Broad was taken for 36 in an over by Yuvraj Singh in 2007.
In pics: Aaron Finch’s record-breaking 156 against England
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
