Australia poised for an entertaining finale against Pakistan after win against Zimbabwe

Australia won the match by 5 wickets.

Finch surpassed his highest T20I score in the series. (Cricket Australia)

Australia successfully chased down the target of 152 runs in the final league game of the T20 tri-series. Glenn Maxwell (56) anchored the Australian victory along with Travis Head (48). The duo added 103 in just 71 deliveries for the fourth wicket to lead the chase. A few late wickets did make Australia stutter towards the close, but Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar knocked off the seven runs needed in the final over to help Australia warm-up for the final against Pakistan on Sunday in style.

Skipper Aaron Finch shared his thoughts on his team's victory which now sets up a crucial clash against Pakistan in the final game.  “I thought they bowled well towards the end and shows the value of having a set batsman at the end,” Finch said after the win. “I think it is important to get some time in the middle, get batting rhythm. They are hitting the balls well in training but nothing compares to match practices."

Finch picked up 3 wickets in the game. (AFP)

Andrew Tye who bowled a match-winning spell for Australia taking 3 wickets and giving away just 28 runs also shared his thoughts on the win. “It's something I've been working on, taking wickets at crucial times," said a happy Tye. "I've got lucky in this series, taking wickets in the death and stopping teams when they want more runs. Good that we got the win today, hopefully as a team we get a win on Sunday too.

“I just try to adapt to every batsman because they're all different. We've had a few troubles but I think we're saving our best for the last. " 

Zimbabwe on their part was competitive for their opponents. “We fought well and took it to the end, which was good. The wicket played slower than expected and we couldn't quite kick on in the end even though we had a good partnership in the middle. We spoke about coming back from the first two games and the guys expressing themselves and I think Mire did that brilliantly. We are on the up now and I'm sure we'll keep getting better" said Hamilton Masakadza, their captain.

(With inputs from ICC) 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 07 Jul, 2018

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