Aaron Finch, renowned for his aggressive batting, has smashed the highest T20I score against Zimbabwe in the on-going tri-series.
The Australian opener smashed a stunning 172 runs innings from just 76 deliveries in Harare.
Zimbabwe won the toss and sent the Aussies to bat first. However, they soon regretted the decision after Finch raced to his half-century from only 22 deliveries. The power hitter spanked the opposition all around the map and brought up his 2nd century from 50 balls.
.@AaronFinch5 breaks his own world record for the highest individual score in Twenty20 Internationals
Australians now have the 3 highest individual T20I scores
The 223 run partnership between Finch and @ShortDarcy is now the highest in T20Is for any wicket#ZIMvAUS #TriSeries pic.twitter.com/UXqmtUytcs
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) July 3, 2018
Previous highest score in T20 international was also held by Finch of 156 against England in 2013.
The current top-three T20 international scores are as following:
| Player | Score | Opposition | Year |
| Aaron Finch | 172 | Zimbabwe | 2018 |
| Aaron Finch | 156 | England | 2013 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 145* | Sri Lanka | 2016 |
Together with opening partner D’Arcy Short, Australia also created the record for the highest opening partnership in the shortest format of the international-level game. Previous record was held by New Zealand between Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson (171 runs) against Pakistan in 2016.
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Australia was on their way to first team to bat through the 20 overs without losing a wicket but Short was dismissed with four balls remaining.
Following Short’s dismissal, Finch followed the same fate but in the most bizarre manner; out hit-wicket. The power hitter returned to the pavilion after smashing 16 fours and 10 sixes.
Aaron Finch (172) scored 75.11% of Australia's total of 229/2. This is the highest % of team's total scored by any player in a completed innings in International cricket. #ZIMvAUS
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) July 3, 2018
It is worth mentioning that Finch was three runs short of scoring the highest ever score in T20 history — 175* by Chris Gayle in Indian Premier League.
Finch is enjoying a splendid year as he has managed 398 runs with an astonishing average of 199 and a strike-rate of 218.68 in 2018 to date.
