Finch labels pitch ‘poor’ despite win

Aaron Finch has labeled the Khettarama pitch a “poor wicket”, after he struck a 46-ball 56 to set Australia on track for a three-wicket victory in the first ODI. Finch was only at the crease for the first 14.2 overs of the innings, but the ball was consistently raising puffs even during Sri Lanka’s innings. Significant turn was also on offer – though Khettarama has long been a spin-friendly venue.

“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. 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.”

Finch also suggested the practice pitches Australia had used at Khettarama had played differently from the track prepared for match day.

“The ones next to it that we’ve been training on have been pretty good wickets. They started to spin a bit yesterday – …

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