Pune Warriors vs Sunrisers: Aaron Finch form sends warning to Kumar Sangakkara

Against Chennai on Monday,Aaron Finch hit the ground running. He sent the first ball he faced,bowled by Dirk Nannes,crashing into the long-on fence

Against Chennai on Monday,Aaron Finch hit the ground running. He sent the first ball he faced,bowled by Dirk Nannes,crashing into the long-on fence. The next one was muscled over long-off. Finch was to make a 45-ball 67 run that had 10 boundaries and two sixes.

His knock resulted in Finch playing starring roles in both the Warriors victory. I was happy that when I got my chance I scored some runs. It is important for me that I make the opportunities that I get count, said the Australian.

The Australian is a feared limited overs batsmen and with a strike-rate of 130.8 in Twenty20s,it was surprising to see him sitting out the first two games. More so because of his recent form.

At last months Big Bash,the Victorian was the highest scorer with 332 runs in eight innings with an astounding average of 66.80. Another aspect bolstering Finchs case for immediate inclusion was that he had scored 246 runs in four innings at an average of 61.5 playing for Australia A against the England Lions in four one-day matches in late February.

When he finally got his chance at the expense of his Melbourne Renegades teammate,Marlon Samuels,Finch was more than ready.

The Australians performance has shored up the Warriors top-order performance and given some relief to coach Allan Donald who wanted his openers to show positive intent as well as maximize the power-play overs. We were quite slow during the power-play in the first two matches.

It was a question of showing intent. The thing with going out to bat with positive intent is that you can put the bowlers on the back foot without scoring heavily. But for us,the wickets have been good in the past couple of games and we have really hit the ball well, he said.

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Finch who has played seven ODIs for Australia has also added another facet to the Warriors bowling attack with his orthodox left-arm spin. He bowled two overs in Punes defeat against Mumbai last Saturday,opening the bowling,and conceded just 11 runs. He also picked up Sachin Tendulkars wicket.

With the pitch for Wednesdays clash having good grass cover and Sunrisers Hyderabad coach,Tom Moody,saying that he saw lots of runs being scored,Finch is ready for another slam bang knock.