This Group Can Win Us The World Cup: Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch & Co. continued their resurgence in India, beating the fancied hosts by 35 runs in the fifth ODI to seal the five-match series 3-2. Who would have thought that Australia would give India a tough fight in the series let along beating them but they once again showed why they are the most decorated team in the history of ODI cricket.

Buoyed by the win in the previous two ODIs, the momentum was with Australia and they fully capitalised on it. After chasing down 358 in the last ODI, they tried to defend a total in the fifth ODI and came out of the test with flying colours. Batting first, the visitors posted 272 for 9 in the allotted 50 overs. Usman Khawaja once again starred with the bat by scoring his second ton of the series.

At 175 for 1 in the 33rd over, Australia looked set to post 300 again. However, they lost wickets in heaps towards the end and thus finished on 272. But the score turned out to be more than enough in the end as India were all out for just 237. In fact, India were looking set to score much less after being reduced to 132 for 6. However, a 99-run stand between Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided some respectability to the total.

“It’s unbelievable. The resilience and the fight that we showed was incredible. We’ve had our backs against the wall for a while now, but I’m really proud of the group for coming back. It’s important to have a balanced side. We need a good balance of attack and defence. You need good batsmanship on these wickets against these really talented guys like Kuldeep, Chahal and Jaddu. Like I said, people have written us off for quite a while now, but the team that we have can win us the series, and they can win us the World Cup. It was a great series all round even though India beat us resoundingly in Nagpur,” Aaron Finch said at the presentation ceremony.