India vs Australia | Aaron Finch credits batsmen for getting 300-plus on Ranchi wicket

Finch and Man of the Match Usman Khawaja combined well for the Aussies in the batting department while Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins picked up wickets at crucial junctures with the ball to ensure that the Aussies get their first win to stay alive in the series. Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey also batted well in the middle overs to see Australia get past the 300-mark in the third ODI yesterday.

The skipper heaped praise on his teammates for a good show against the hosts during the post-match presentation ceremony.

“It was a pretty good performance by our guys. To get 300 on that wicket was really good batting performance. . It was nice (opening stand) and I think it is important, especially in these conditions we know how hard it is for guys to come in and score quickly in the middle overs. It was important that Usman and I kept going as deep as we could and allow Maxi to come in and play the way he does, Stoinis too,” Finch was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“The way we bowled up front, we put the squeeze on and got three big wickets. Usman played a fantastic knock and Zamps bowled well. I think Jhye was standout with the ball too. To be able to put pressure on world class players and to get wickets on a wicket which was easy to score with the new ball. The work he did was outstanding and Patty Cummins was at his best again.”

Khawaja got to his maiden ODI hundred and played some delightful shots in the early overs alongside captain Finch as they added 193 for the first wicket. Before getting out to Shami, the left-handed opener scored 104 runs off 113 deliveries. After being adjudged Man of the Match for his hundred, Khawaja expressed his delight to score a century and help the team win against a strong Indian side.

“There is nothing like winning. Specially against a very good Indian side. They made us work hard. Patty getting us those wickets early when we first went out there was massive, but Virat batting the way he is and then a lot of good batsmen around, nice to get that win. The bowlers bowled beautifully,” extolled Khawaja during the presentation.

“We probably would have bowled first and weren't quite sure what a good score is, but Finchy batted beautifully at the start, we got a nice partnership and the lower-order finished off well. It was not easy towards the end when the ball got soft. They batted beautifully to put up that total. My first hundred in ODIs, I had 98 before this and ran myself out, so it was nice to get those extra two runs today.”