Watch: New Zealand's classy guard of honour for Australia captain Aaron Finch in his final ODI

New Zealand gave retiring Australian captain Aaron Finch a guard of honour as he walked in for what would be his final ODI innings.

Published on: Sep 11, 2022, 16:56:16 IST

By HT Sports Desk

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New Zealand showed another example of why they are regarded as a universally liked cricket team during their third ODI against Australia in Cairns. They gave a guard of honour for Australia captain Aaron Finch as he walked in to play his final ODI innings. Finch had earlier announced that he will be retiring from ODI cricket after Sunday's match.

Williamson shook hands with Finch as the latter walked in for his final ODI innings.  (Getty Images)

The New Zealand players lined up and applauded Finch as he walked in with their skipper Kane Williamson walking forward to shake his Australia counterpart's hand. Finch only scored five runs off 13 balls before falling to Tim Southee but Australia were then buoyed by a century from Steve Smith and half century from Marnus Labuschagne. They ended up making a total of 267/5 in 50 overs.

A recent run of poor form has seen the 35-year-old Finch average just 3.7 runs, including three ducks, since scoring 62 runs against Sri Lanka in an ODI in June. Cricket Australia said in a statement on Saturday that Finch will continue to captain Australia's Twenty20 side and will lead it in defense of its world title when the T20 World Cup is played in October and November in Australia.

"It has been a fantastic ride with some incredible memories," said Finch, who played 145 ODI matches, 54 as captain. "I have been extremely fortunate to be a part of some brilliant one-day sides. It is time now to give a new leader the best possible opportunity to prepare for and win the next World Cup. I thank all of those who have helped and supported my journey to this point."

One of the most damaging opening batters in the world when at his best, Finch has scored 5,401 runs in the ODI format and averaged close to 40, including 17 centuries. But he's failed to get past 20 in his last seven innings and his continuing place in the side was in doubt.

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