‘One of those days where a few things went my way’ – Aaron Finch

“We've come here to win the series” – Aaron Finch had made his stance quite clear after smashing a 33-ball 68* against Pakistan on Monday to lead his side to a nine-wicket win.

On Tuesday, he backed it up with one of the finest innings seen in recent times in a Twenty20 International. Finch smashed 172 in just 76 deliveries, the highest score in the shortest format of the game, breaking the record he had himself set in 2013 against England.

Finch added 223 runs for the opening wicket with D'Arcy Short (46), which is also the highest partnership in a T20I for any wicket, as Australia piled on 229/2 in their 20 overs. In reply, Zimbabwe were restricted to 129/9, as the visitors romped to a 100-run win.

“Just one of those days where a few things went my way,” said Finch after his record-breaking knock. “The wicket played a lot better than we thought (it would). Good to get a few out of the middle and break a record. Any time you have a day like this, you need to reflect on it. These might not happen often, so it's special.”

Chasing 230 against Australia has was always going to be improbable, and wickets at regular intervals did not help Zimbabwe's cause. Andrew Tye returned figures of 3/12 in his four overs while Ashton Agar chipped in with two wickets.

Finch lauded the effort of his bowlers but admitted the fielding on the whole needed to be a bit more efficient.

“I thought we were a bit sloppy in the field early on,” said Finch. “Zimbabwe came firing on all cylinders and that was expected. But, we could have been more polished in the field. Short (left-arm wrist-spin) showed some skill, so did Agar and (Glenn) Maxwell in the middle overs. Tye was exemplary.”

For Hamilton Masakadza, the Zimbabwe captain, everything that could go wrong on the day did.

“We thought it couldn't get tougher after the first game, it did here,” said a dejected Masakadza. “Credit to him (Finch), he struck it hard from the first ball. Tough to stop a player when he goes like that.”

Having lost both their games, it will be a long road back for the hosts but they will hope to turn things in their favour when they take on Pakistan on the morrow.

“I think we can bowl a bit better first up,” said Masakadza. “We have conceded too many in the Powerplay in both the games. Apart from that, we've done decently. Hopefully, we can turn things around tomorrow against Pakistan.”