Finch equals greats but leaves unhappy

Aaron Finch equalled a long-standing Australian record in Durham on Thursday with his sixth one-day hundred against England but the Victorian nonetheless felt he could have had a more decisive impact on the outcome of the fourth ODI.

After being briefly experimented with at No.5, Finch returned to the top of the order and made an immediate impact, hitting his fourth hundred in his past 10 ODI innings as Australia set England 311 to win – a target they achieved with 32 balls and six wickets in hand.

The 31-year-old was out for an even 100 in the 40th over, just as the Australians were looking to launch towards a total that might potentially have challenged this rampant English batting unit.

" I could have got us to a lot more to be fair, I left a heap out there," he said. "We had a good partnership with myself and Shaun (Marsh, 101) and for me to get out just past 100 was disappointing when we could have really kicked on and put the foot down in that last 12 or 13 overs.

"I take full responsibility for us not getting 330-340.

"It would have been nice to really cash in and get 150-odd and get us to a really big total, make them continue to take risks with their middle order in the middle overs."

Finch's 11th ODI hundred was his sixth against England, which means he now shares the Australian record for most centuries against one opposition with Ricky Ponting (New Zealand, India) and Adam Gilchrist (Sri Lanka).

With 1,131 runs at an average of 51.40, the right-hander is one of six Australians to have scored 1000-plus ODI runs against their oldest rivals, and the only one in that group to average above 50.

Perhaps his most famous ODI hundred against England came in the opening match of the 2015 World Cup, a performance that helped Australia to a huge win and kick-started their charge to a fifth world title.

But the balance of power has shifted dramatically in a little over three years since, with England now ranked No.1 in the world and hot favourites to take that crown from Austalia (ranked sixth) on home soil in around 12 months.

The hosts have never beaten Australia 5-0 in an ODI series but are on course to do so with one match remaining at Old Trafford on Sunday.

While admiring England's aggression and batting depth, Finch refuted the suggestion Australia should be imitating their style of play.

"I still believe we play our way," he said. "The tone they're setting in ODI cricket is obviously the benchmark.

"They're full of confidence and they have a lot of batting depth. They've got batting down to 'Rashy' (Adil Rashid) at 10 and he's got 10 first-class centuries.

"That Number six, seven, eight, nine, they can still get the job done if things don't go well at the top.

"All in all they've got a pretty good blueprint.

"Do we need to copy that? No.

"I think we've still got to stick to our strengths, which is to find a way to stay in the contest for longer, keep hanging in there and hanging in there.

"Once we start to find the formula I think things will turn for us very quick."

Most ODI centuries against one opponent
9 - Sachin Tendulkar v Australia
8 - Sachin Tendulkar v Sri Lanka
8 - Virat Kohli v Sri Lanka
7 - Saeed Anwar v Sri Lanka
7 - Sanath Jayasuriya v India
6 - Aaron Finch v England
6 - Adam Gilchrist v Sri Lanka
6 - Ricky Ponting v New Zealand
6 - Ricky Ponting v India
6 - Virender Sehwag v New Zealand
6 - Rohit Sharma v Sri Lanka
6 - Rohit Sharma v Australia
6 - AB de Villiers v India
6 - Gautum Gambhir v Sri Lanka
6 - Desmond Haynes v Australia
6 - Kumar Sangakkara v India

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Craig Overton, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: England won by six wickets in Durham

June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final