Australia’s T20 International captain Aaron Finch recorded the highest score by a batsman in the game’s shortest format. Playing in the third match of a T20I tri-series against Zimbabwe, Finch while opening the batting toyed with the bowling attack as he smashed 172 off just 76 balls. Interestingly, Finch broke his own record of 156 runs he had set against England five years ago in Southampton. During his record-breaking innings, the right-handed batsman along with D'Arcy Short registered highest ever partnership for the first wicket. The Australian duo added 223 runs going past 171 run-stand between New Zealand's Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. This was the first onstage of openers putting a 200-run stand in the T20Is.

Finch and Short's partnership is also the highest for any wicket in T20Is. It was a record-shattering day in the T20I cricket and most of the contribution came from Finch’s bat. Apparently, Finch is the only batsman to go past 150-run mark in T2I0s. He, in fact, has now achieved the feat twice. Third on the ‘highest individual score in T20Is list’ is Finch’s compatriot Glenn Maxwell, who scored unbeaten 145 against Sri Lanka in 2016. Aaron Finch Records Highest Score by a Batsman in T20Is, Achieves Feat During AUS vs ZIM Match.

Windies’ Evin Lewis and former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson make up the fourth and fifth on the list. Interestingly, Hong Kong’s Babar Hayat, Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad and India’s Rohit Sharma’s are the only Asian batsmen to find their name on the list.

Here’s the List of Highest Score by Batsmen in T20I Cricket

Player

Runs Balls SR Team Opp.

Date

A Finch

172 76 226.31 Australia Zimbabwe

3 Jul 2018

A Finch

156 63 247.61 Australia England

29 Aug 2013

G Maxwell 145* 65 223.07 Australia Sri Lanka

6 Sep 2016

E Lewis

125* 62 201.61 West Indies India

9 Jul 2017

S Watson

124* 71 174.64 Australia India

31 Jan 2016

B McCullum

123 58 212.06 New Zealand Bangladesh

21 Sep 2012

B Hayat

122 60 203.33 Hong Kong Oman

19 Feb 2016

F du Plessis

119 56 212.50 South Africa West Indies

11 Jan 2015

M Shahzad

118* 67 176.11 Afghanistan Zimbabwe

10 Jan 2016

R Sharma

118 43 274.41 India Sri Lanka

22 Dec 2017

R Levi

117* 51 229.41 South Africa New Zealand

19 Feb 2012

S Anwar

117* 68 172.05 U.A.E. P.N.G.

14 Apr 2017

C Gayle

117 57 205.26 West Indies South Africa

11 Sep 2007

B McCullum

116* 56 207.14 New Zealand Australia

28 Feb 2010

A Hales

116* 64 181.25 England Sri Lanka

27 Mar 2014

Meanwhile, Finch fell three runs short of Chris Gayle’s 175 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India during the Indian Premier League 2013. The Australian is now on second when it comes to highest individual scores T20 cricket (including all leagues).

Finch, who scored 84 against England last week (June 27), continued his good form and registered unbeaten 68 against Pakistan during Australia’s first match of the Zimbabwe T20I triangular series. The Australian skipper against Zimbabwe collected 16 fours and ten sixes. Looks like Finch’s record will now stay for long, just like his previous record took five years to be broken.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 06:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).