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Smith, Warner come in for big praise from Australia skipper Finch

Smith, Warner come in for big praise from Australia skipper Finch

Cape Town, Feb 27 (UNI) Aaron Finch, the Australia captain, lauded his side after their
97-run win here helped them to a 2-1 T20I series win against South Africa on Wednesday.
Australia set South Africa a tricky 194 for victory, and their bowlers then proceeded to
bundle out the hosts for 96 in 15.3 overs, with Mitchell Starc and Ashton Agar taking three
wickets each.
David Warner set the tone for the victory by scoring a quick 37-ball 57 and forging a
120-run stand with Finch at the top of the order. That was Warner's second successive
half-century after he made a valiant 60 in the previous game.
Finch heaped praise on Warner's consistency.
“In this format of the game and probably one-day cricket as well, Davey's been so
consistent for such a long time,” said Finch. “If you look at his IPL record, where he's
played the majority of his T20 cricket, it's been super consistent and he's someone
that once he gets in and once he's in good form, he's so hard to bowl to because he
accesses both sides of the ground, he's got touch, he's got power, so as soon as
you've got guys like that, they can be so hard to stop."
"From his younger days playing T20, when it was all just brute force, the way that
he goes about thinking through his innings, planning his innings pre-game, but also
adapting – it's extraordinary," Finch said.
"To sit down and chat with him about plans, how we're going to go about it at the top
of the order, which very rarely works the way that you want it to work – his attention to
detail in his planning is unbelievable and as good as anyone I've played with,” he said.
Finch also lavished praise on Steve Smith. The former captain batted in an unfamiliar
No.5 position in Cape Town, but still scored a 15-ball 30, taking 20 runs from the final
over of the innings from Anrich Nortje, an ICC report said.
Smith has now batted at every position from No.3 to 9 in T20Is, and Finch said Smith
had done well to develop his repertoire of shots. “He's a little bit different to Warner in
regards to being a middle-order player, No.3, 4, 5 throughout his career," Finch said.
"You're always faced with different challenges. So to have that ability to come in and
strike at 200 when the game requires it, or come in at 10/2 navigate through a tricky six
or seven overs but still score, the ability to do that has been extraordinary," the Australia
captain said.
"I think what's changed for him slightly in his game is he's probably got a bit more
power – maybe he's always had the power, but a little bit more freedom to play his shots,
and that's been a huge difference to his game," he said.
"Teams used to think that they could just squeeze him, he wouldn't hurt you too much
at the back end, but to develop all the shots that he's got now, he's a super-important
player to us, and he's bloody impressive to watch,” Finch added.
UNI XC-BM

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