Aaron Finch, D’Arcy Short Set New T20 World Record For Highest Opening Partnership

Asked to bat first, Australian openers went all gun blazing as they smashed Zimbabwe bowlers all around the park to set a mammoth 230-run target

By: Karan Nanda |
July 3, 2018 6:34 pm

Australian openers Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short created history after they recorded the highest partnership of 223 runs for the 1st wicket in Twenty20 cricket. The duo achieved the feat during the third match of the T20 tri-series against Zimbabwe at Harare on July 3.

Asked to bat first, Australian openers went all gun blazing as they smashed Zimbabwe bowlers all around the park to set a mammoth 230-run target for the host nation.

With 172 runs off just 76 balls, Aussie captain Aaron Finch was the top scorer for the Australians. With this, Finch went past his T20 international score of 156 he made in 2013 against Australia.

Aaron Finch headlines a record-smashing day in Harare!https://t.co/fHVkrWnOmm #ZIMvAUS pic.twitter.com/Ln5v4RjV0S

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 3, 2018

Here are the top partnerships in T20 cricket for the 1st wicket:

Partners	Runs	Team	Opposition	Date
Finch, Short	223	Australia	Zimbabwe	July 3, 2018
Guptill, Williamson	171*	New Zealand	Pakistan	Jan 17, 2016
Smith, Bosman	170	South Africa	England	Nov 15, 2009
Rohit, KL Rahul	165	India	Sri Lanka	Dec 22, 2017
Rohit, Dhawan	160	India	Ireland	June 27, 2017

D Short, on the other hand, held up the other end and he kept on rotating the strike which allowed the Australian skipper to destroy the Zimbabwe bowling line-up.

Short (46 off 42, 3×4 and 2×6) was the first to depart within 19.2 overs, followed by Finch who faced the bizarre dismissal by getting out because of his own blunder, hit wicket on the second last ball of the Australian innings.

Finch lost a bit focus as he tried to reach too wide a delivery by Blessing Muzarabani. In the process, he lost his balance and ended up knocking the bails off with his foot.

Brian Lara has highest score in test and only player to score 375+ twice…

Rohit Sharma has highest score in ODI and only player to score 200+ thrice…

Aaron Finch has highest score in T20I and only player to score 150+ twice…

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) July 3, 2018

For Zimbabwe, Muzarabani was the only bowler to pick two wickets.

In reply, hosts needed a miracle to chase down the target. They started the chase with few adventurous strikes, but couldn’t convert into big partnership and the kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

WORLD RECORD! Aaron Finch breaks his own record as he moves to 160* off 71 balls – the highest score ever in T20 international cricket!

Sixteen fours and NINE sixes!https://t.co/Xa0yD4YJDL #ZIMvAUS pic.twitter.com/hqwqBtWz8b

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 3, 2018

Zimbabwe managed to put 129/9 in the quota of 20 overs and ultimately lost the game with a margin of 100 runs.

For Aussies, Andrew Tye was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped 3 wickets. Ashton Agar picked up 2, while Billy Stanlake, Jhye Richardson, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis picked one wicket each.