Aaron Finch in action.
Australian opener Aaron Finch smashed a world-record 172 runs off just 76 balls (16 fours, 10 sixes) today against Zimbabwe in a T20I tri-series match featuring Pakistan as the third team. This is the highest individual score in all T20Is. Finch surpassed his own previous record of 156 runs which he hit against England five years ago.
Along the way, a number of records broke including that for the highest partnership for any wicket in T20Is. The first Australian wicket fell in the last over of the innings when D'Arcy Short was caught by the wicketkeeper PJ Moor off the bowling of B Muzarabani, who incidentally was the sole wicket-taker from Zimbabwe.
Not only this, but the burly opener shattered a few more records in Harare. During his innings, Finch also played the most number of balls ever played by a batsman in a T20I while scoring 75.1% of Australia's eventual total - easily the highest share ever.
Finch and Short shared a world record 223 runs partnership which is the highest for any wicket in the history of T20Is. The previous best was 171 made by the Kiwi duo Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson against Pakistan in 2016.
Finch's dismissal was peculiar in the sense that he got out hit-wicket in the last over signifying that it was almost impossible for the Zimbabweans to dislodge him through conventional means.
Riding on his century, Australia posted a mammoth 229/2 in their 20 overs. Zimbabwe in reply got off to a flying start but lost too many wickets while trying to up the ante. With no batsman in the mood to spend a significant amount of time at the crease, the hosts struggled to reach 129/9 in their 20 overs losing the match by a huge margin of 100 runs. Aussie fast bowler Andrew Tye was the chief destroyer of the opposition as he got 3 wickets for just 12 runs in his 4 overs.
Below is a list of the seven highest individual scores in T20Is:-
172 - Aaron Finch, Australia vs. Zimbabwe, Harare, 2018
156 - Aaron Finch, Australia vs. England, Southampton, 2013
145* - Glenn Maxwell, Australia vs. Sri Lanka, Pallekele, 2016
125* - Evin Lewis, West Indies vs. India, Kingston, 2017
124* - Shane Watson, Australia vs. India, Sydney, 2016
123* - Brendon McCullum, New Zealand vs. Bangladesh, Pallekele, 2012
122 - Babar Hayat, Hong Kong vs. Oman, Fatullah, 2016
