Australian skipper Aaron Finch becomes fastest to reach 3000 T20I runs in terms of balls
Australian batter Aaron Finch completed 3,000 runs in T20I cricket on Sunday, becoming the first Australian and only the sixth player to do so.
He accomplished this feat during his side`s first T20I against England in Perth. Finch scored 12 off 7 balls in the match, hitting a huge six before he was run out by the duo of Sam Curran and skipper Jos Buttler. Now in 98 matches, the opener has 3,000 runs at an average of 34.48. Two centuries and 18 half-centuries have come out of his bat.
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He achieved the feat against England in the first of the three-match series on Sunday, October 09, 2022, in Perth. The 35-year-old right-handed batter completed the 3000th run in 2078 deliveries, while India captain Rohit Sharma is in the second spot for reaching the milestone in 2149 balls against Namibia in 2021.
The best individual score of Finch in this format is 172. This year Finch has scored 392 runs in 15 innings at an average of 28.00. Three half-centuries have been scored by the batter this year, with the best score of 61*. Other than him, five more batters have scored 3,000 runs in T20I cricket. Rohit Sharma (3,737) is the leading run scorer in the format, followed by Virat Kohli (3,712), New Zealand veteran Martin Guptill (3,497), Star Pakistani batter Babar Azam (3,140), Ireland opener Paul Stirling (3,011).
Coming to the match, top knocks from Alex Hales (84) and skipper Jos Buttler (68) and a fiery spell from pacer Mark Wood (3/34) powered England to an eight-run win over Australia in the first T20I on Sunday. Half-centuries from Hales and Buttler powered England to 208/6 in their 20 overs.
Hales and Buttler added 132 runs for the first wicket. But it was pacers Nathan Ellis (3/20), Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis(one wicket each) that put brakes on England's run flow and they could not score much in the second half of the innings.
Chasing 209, opener David Warner (73) top scored for the Aussies. Knocks from Mitchell Marsh (36), Marcus Stoinis (35) also kept Australia in the hunt but the hosts fell short of 8-runs of victory. Pacer Mark Wood (3/34) was the leading bowler for England.
Sam Curran (2/35) and Reece Topley (2/36) also performed well for England. Alex Hales was given the 'Man of the Match' award for his match-winning knock.