Aaron Finch has urged his battered Australian team to be “ultra-positive, ultra-aggressive” when they face Sri Lanka on Tuesday after their Twenty20 World Cup title defence was dealt a major blow by New Zealand.
The hosts were hammered by 89 runs in Sydney on Saturday evening as they slumped to their second-biggest defeat (by runs) and worst ever at home after being skittled for 111 with 17 balls left chasing New Zealand’s 200-3.
It was their first loss to New Zealand on home soil, in any format, since 2011. “The fact that we’ve lost one game, yes, it’s a heavy loss and it hurts our chances, no doubt. We can’t dwell on that, we can’t change it,” said Finch.
“All we can do is concentrate on the next game and prepare really well for that against Sri Lanka (on Tuesday) and see how we go. “We’ve taken the fate out of our own hands, I think to a point. We need to be ultra-positive, ultra-aggressive, and I’m sure that we’ll all do that.”
Catch the T20 World Cup Live on Kayo. Don’t Risk Missing All Your Teams’ Matches. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now > Australia never recovered from the sizzling start made by New Zealand openers Finn Allen (42 off 16 balls) and the brilliant Devon Conway (92 not out from 58).—INP
