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AARON Finch, it might have been your lucky day - but it was also your finest one. By far.
Having survived a simple catch off the second ball he faced yesterday, the free-hitting opening batsman earned enormous applause not simply for top-scoring with a superb century but for taking responsibility for leading Australia out of a mini-crisis when three key wickets fell in a hurry.
Finch is entertaining to watch any time he gets going - at his most aggressive, he is not far behind David Warner and Glenn Maxwell - but steering listing ships through choppy waters with care and circumspection is not what he is best known for.
But it is what he did to perfection in immensely challenging circumstances in the most important innings he has yet played.
It is difficult to exaggerate what a colossal moment it must have been when he turned paceman Steve Finn to fine leg for four to reach his century.
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Sitter: Woakes drops Finch. Source: FoxSports
For all his obvious talent, Finch, 28, has still yet to play a Test so to even be a part of a World Cup is a proud landmark.
Coming from Colac, a sleepy bush town a couple of hours down the road, he could scarcely have dreamed as a kid he would get the chance to bat in front of almost 100,000 people at the mighty MCG, let alone make a crucially important hundred.
The "G" hasn't really had a hero to call its own for a while now so Finch will certainly do until the next local in a baggy green cap takes the sporting cathedral by storm.
If that turns out to be him, hooray _ he's an impressive character, likeable and popular and with leadership acumen that has seen him appointed T20 captain.
His sixth one-day ton, and third against England, was a two-toned affair which moved into gear when he and Warner took 33 off the fourth and fifth overs delivered by England's key bowlers, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, breaking an early stalemate.
In that explosive cameo, Finch's run-rate was three times Warner's, which has almost certainly never happened to the Sydney smasher before.
Aaron Finch smashes four runs off Joe Root. Picture:Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
But when Warner, Shane Watson and Steve Smith departed, Finch reverted to head down, bum up, at one stage taking just a couple of singles off a dozen balls as his strike-rate dropped below 100.
Suddenly, he cut loose again, paddling spinner Moeen Ali over his shoulder for four, driving Anderson for six and smashing part-timer Joe Root for four and six as his hundred hoved into sight.
Once that was achieved, the rest was a master-class with a bit of everything, including the reverse sweep, as he and Bailey put on 146.
Finch comes of age on the biggest stage. Source: Getty Images
Finch's fireworks ended unworthily and wastefully when he was run out by metres challenging England captain Eoin Morgan to throw down the stumps from close range.
With 13 overs of potential mayhem still left, Finch cursed as he walked off to a standing ovation.
His 135 off 128 balls with 12 fours and three sixes was the fifth highest World Cup score by an Australian and only the second hundred on home soil, David Boon registering the first in 1992.
For Finch, it was an unforgettable occasion — and for fieldsman Chris Woakes, who failed to hang on to the early chance, it will take some moving from the memory-bank, too.
ron.reed@news.com.au
Twitter: @Reedrw
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