Australia opener Aaron Finch slams pitch used in the first ODI against Sri Lanka
Australian opener Aaron Finch admitted that he had never “played on a wicket that spun that much” after Australia’s three-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Colombo. Chasing 228 for victory, the visitors were helped by fifties by Smith and Finch but the latter wasn’t happy with the wicket on offer.
While the pitch at Khettarama has always been conducive to spin bowling, Finch labelled it a “poor wicket”. "I don't think I've ever played on a wicket that spun that much," Finch said. "It was a pretty poor wicket I think. For balls to be going through the top from the second over – Josh Hazlewood to Tillakaratne Dilshan – for the second over of the game, I think that was pretty poor.
Despite the nature of the pitch, the opener praised the batsmen for adjusting to the conditions and also admitted that the practice pitches that the visitors played in at the venue was different to the one the got in the first ODI.
“We played well to track down that total. It seemed like a different spinner was bowling every over. They’ve got plenty of options and we played exceptionally well with the bat to get across the line,” he said.
"The ones next to it that we've been training on have been pretty good wickets. They started to spin a bit yesterday - late yesterday. I don't think I've seen any wickets that have spun to that extreme - particularly in a one-day game. I suppose the wickets that we trained on were probably not very similar, to be fair,” he added.
Speaking about the way he went about his game, the 29-year-old said: “I think the way that the game panned out, we noticed that as soon as the ball got a bit older, it started to spin quite big and it wasn't coming on to the bat. We just made a call to try and take on the new ball.
“Generally in the subcontinent that is the way to play. It came off today for a little bit, so it was nice to get the team off to a flyer. I think that's generally the way that games go on wickets that are so slow and low.”
Finch praises Starc and Faulkner
On Mitchell Starc breaking the world record and becoming the fastest bowler to 100 ODI wickets in this match, he said: "It's a fantastic achievement from Mitchell - he's been the best in the world for a number of years now. When he gets it right there’s absolutely no one better around. We were aware of the record. We thought that he'd get it in the tri-series in the West Indies, in June, but he didn't get any wickets in the final.”
While Starc was busy racking up a record, Faulkner was the standout performer with four wickets in his 10 overs. Speaking about the catch he dropped off Kusal Mendis and the all-rounder’s overall performance, Finch said: “Faulkner was fantastic.”
"When you’ve got three or four different kinds of slower balls, it’s a huge advantage. You can always make sure it’s turning away from the bat,” he added. “He was a bit unlucky early - I lost one straight in the sun. He probably thought it was going to be one of those days, but he stuck to the basics well and kept doing what he's very good at.”