Top 5 ODI finishers from Australia

Australia have been one of the best sides in one-day international cricket history and their domination of the format from around the mid-1990s till the end of the first decade of the new millennium was unprecedented.

The primary reason for their success was that they not only had outstanding players at almost all positions but because they had a steady supply of players to take over when one retired and that was the case for almost all roles.

Hence, it is not surprising that Australia also possessed excellent batsmen at number 5 and 6, who were capable of giving the final flourish to the innings or finish a chase that might have looked out of their range.

On the other hand, they were also perfectly capable of coming in to bat after the loss of wickets and anchor the innings.

Here is a look at five of Australia's finest finishers in one-day internationals.

#5 Allan Border

The batsman who went on to become one of the greatest in Australian cricket history was also responsible for sparking the revival of the team in the mid-1980s. Allan Border's leadership saw Australia win their first ever World Cup back in 1987 but he was himself just as influential for the team as a finisher for most of his one day career.

The left-hander played in 156 one day internationals for Australia between and in 102 of them he batted at either 5 or 6 for the team. He not only had the ability to take on good bowlers but he had the awareness to pace the game from the position and in addition to that, his gamed determination came to the fore plenty of times when it came to finishing off games.

For instance, in the World Cup final against England in 1987, Border came in at number 5 and hit a run a ball 31 to help them post a formidable 253 in the final. He played plenty of such knock throughout his career. Border made 2631 runs at an average of 27.21 and recorded a strike rate of 77.30. 

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