Finch Made 156 From 63 Balls & Australia

Finch produced one of the most punishing  performances seen on the international stage as he clubbed 14 sixes and 11 fours in an innings of 156 from 63 balls.

The right-hander's record-breaking knock, on a night when a T-20-best 457 runs were scored, dominated Australia's 248 for six - the second-highest T-20 score.

The size of the task swamped England's batsmen - who still managed their own second-highest score of 209 for six on the back of Joe Root's unbeaten 90.

But a 39-run defeat, in the first of two NatWest T-20 internationals, meant Australia also ended their 200-day wait for a competitive international win.

The Australians had not tasted success in any format on this tour, or the previous whitewash trip to India, and England captain Stuart Broad had pledged to keep the foot on the bealeagured tourists.

His decision to send Australia in to bat after winning the toss was, however, quickly undermined.

Finch, who reached all his landmarks with sixes, served his intention by hitting his first ball from Steven Finn over the ropes.

While England did then remove David Warner cheaply, after his bat was unintentionally hurled from his grip as he skied Broad, from there Finch took centre-stage.

The 26-yearsold reached his half-century with a straight six off Ravi Bopara and appeared ready to beat South African Richard Levi's international record 45-ball century.

Finch was, however, briefly sedated as he crept up on triple figures.

He played out back-to-back dot balls to miss the record mark before reverting to type - top-edging Broad for six to bring up his ton from 47 balls.

Brendon McCullum's previous T-20 record score of 123 was next in his sights - and duly beaten with a maximum over cover - before another heave made him the first man to 150.

Jade Dernbach, who returned impressive figures of three for 34 as the carnage fell around him, finally got Finch to play on in the 18th over.

The Victorian left to a standing ovation from the Ageas Bowl crowd.

England were then able to apply some restraint in the closing overs, thanks largely to Dernbach, to at least ensure Australia fell short of Sri Lanka's record T-20 total of 260 for six.

England's batsman were, however, still left with a task only heavy hitting, rather than efficient batsmanship, could overcome.

Australia's 18 sixes were an indication of that and the pressure told early as England slipped to 42 for four.

Michael Lumb and Alex Hales made a quickfire opening stand of 33 only to fall from consecutive balls, albeit at opposite ends.

Lumb was trapped plumb in front by Mitchell Johnson before Hales edged behind off Josh Hazlewood.

Luke Wright fell the same way and when Eoin Morgan thrashed Johnson to cover point without scoring England were in a hole.

Root was then left with a bloodied mouth by an awkward Hazlewood delivery - which prompted Warner to be first on the scene and duly ignored by the England batsman.

Root remained composed and brought up a half-century from 29 balls and continued until the end.

However, like the long-awaited debut of Australia's Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed - who returned none for 43 and dropped a catch - that was lost in the glare of Finch's fireworks which gave Australia their long-awaited win and a 1-0 lead ahead of Saturday's final game at Chester-le-Street.