Elevated to open alongside Finch in the third game of the three-match ODI series match against South Africa in Hobart, Chris Lynn got out for a duck on the very first ball he faced before the decision immediately raised question marks and attracted criticism, but the explosive right-hander has found support and backing and might continue at the top of the order.
Chasing a stiff target of 321 in the series decider, Australia fell 40-runs short despite Shaun Marsh's fantastic knock of 106 and it was felt afterwards that Lynn, who actually scored a crucial 44 batting in the middle order at Adelaide and helped crucially in the 7-run win, shouldn't have been moved from his position. Aaron Finch thinks differently, though.
"We had a chat (Saturday) night and went through it and both slept on it and we were excited about it," he was quoted saying on Cricket.com.au, "We thought it was a really attacking move to try and take South Africa head-on in that power play, something we hadn’t nailed in this three-game series so far, and we wanted to fight fire with fire."
"It didn’t pay off but that’s cricket. Some days it comes off and you get off to a flyer and that makes it, down the line, a lot simpler," Finch stressed, "It was an attacking option to put Chris at the top and change him and Travis(who got dropped down to no.4). I think to put a couple of guys up there who can take it on and get off to a bit of a flyer is an attacking move."
Finch also empathised with Lynn, who has been a prolific run-getter at the T20 circuit but has just played 4 ODIs so far and averages just 18.75 in the format with a strike-rate of just 84.26.
He said, "He’s still relatively new to international cricket. He’s been around domestic cricket and various tournaments for a long time but international cricket he’s probably just still trying to find his feet a little bit,"
"He knows what works best for him in the shortest format and it’s probably just about finding that balance at international level as well."
There is potential though, as the matchwinning knock at Adelaide exemplified and so did his outstanding list A season for Queensland in this year's JLT One Day Cup, where he averaged 75.33 in the tournament with a strike-rate of 117.70, batting no.3.
"I think the way he played in the JLT Cup this year was exceptional. Being the guy who hadn’t played one-day cricket for a long time, that was really positive," Finch said, "The way he can turn a game ... we saw it briefly in Adelaide when he flicked the switch against (Proteas paceman Kagiso) Rabada."
"Yes, he got out but he changed the momentum of the game totally. That’s still definitely a thought going forward," he signed off.
Having already clinched the ODI series, 2-1, South Africa finish off their short limited-overs tour down under with a standalone T20I at Gold Coast on Saturday, November 17.
