Records tumbled in Harare as Australia crushed Zimbabwe by 100 runs in the T20 tri-series on Tuesday.
Australian captain Aaron Finch smashed a world record 172, while his opening stand of 223 with D’Arcy Short turned out to be the best ever as well as the Aussies posted 229-2.
In their case, Zimbabwe put up a brief fight before screeching to a halt at 129-9. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar took 2-16 while seamer Andrew Tye took 3-12 to complete the biggest even win in T20Is for Australia.
Earlier, Finch fell agonisingly short of the highest-ever innings in the format. The explosive opener passed the 156 he made against England in 2013, and had Chris Gayle’s 175 in his sights, but was out for 172.
Gayle’s score was made for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League five years ago, against a Pune Warriors side captained by Finch.
That mark looked set be eclipsed in the history books on Tuesday as Finch reached 172 with two balls of the innings left. However, in bizarre circumstances, he over-balanced chasing a wide delivery from Blessing Muzarabani and hit his own wicket.
Oh @AaronFinch5 172 off 76... one of the greatest knocks of all time! And selectors wanted you to bat down the order! Always a true opener..
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) July 3, 2018
simply 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#AUSvsZIM
Finch’s overall score came off 76 balls and comprised 16 fours and 10 maximums.
During the opening stand of 223, Short was very much the silent partner with a 42-ball 46. Remarkably, in a final total of 229 for two, Zimbabwe bowler Tendai Chisoro conceded just 19 runs from his four overs.
After his century, Finch said: “Feeling good. The wicket played better than we thought.
“It came on well. I knew about the records when I was batting, but a few things went my way today. I took the strike from Short a bit, but that kind of innings for him will also help him. When the wickets get slower and lower, that kind of innings will help.
“I was captain of the opposition when Gayle got 175, so I remembered that record as well. The wicket is very good, so we have to bowl well too.”
