Aussies secure historic 5-0 whitewash

He may have had one of the greatest individual series in one-day international history, but Australia skipper Aaron Finch is still kicking himself for the big knocks he let slip.

Coming into Australia's five-game series against Pakistan facing questions over his place in the team, Finch emphatically answered all of them with a monster campaign to lead his side to a 5-0 series sweep.

Named player of the series, the visiting captain was dismissed for under 50 just once to fall 27 short of George Bailey's Australian record of 478 for the most runs scored in a bilateral campaign.

Finch begun his tour with totals of 116 and 153 not out in Sharjah, before padding out his extraordinary tally with knocks of 90 in Abu Dhabi and then 39 and 53 in the final two games in Dubai.

"It was probably my most consistent (series) as a batter," said Finch.

"I think if you look back through my career, there's been times when I've got a couple of hundreds an there will be some really low scores in there as well.

"It was nice to get a good start each game and still kicking myself at a couple of chances, (and innings) where I could have gone on and got some really big match-winning scores.

"It was nice to start the series really well and set the tone early.

"A couple of really good chases as well, which is something that's been really pleasing recently that we've been able to chase 360 in Mohali (on the preceding tour of India) and then 280-plus twice in Sharjah on wearing wickets was a real positive both times."

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His dominant form after a lean summer comes at the perfect time with the World Cup just months away.

Finch's union with Usman Khawaja was one of the major highlights of Australia's campaign, with the pair now statistically the greatest opening pair in their side's ODI history.

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Since reuniting at the top, the Finch-Khawaja combination's average partnership has been 81.70 and they recorded their third 100-plus run stand on Sunday as Khawaja fell two runs short of a century.

"When he's timing the ball, he hits the gap a hell of a lot," Finch said of Khawaja. "He doesn't hit the fielder too often. That was a brilliant innings that he played.

"I was disappointed he didn't get a hundred because he really did deserve it, the series that he's had, the way that he's been playing."

Khawaja falls just short of another ODI ton

Coach Justin Langer has praised Finch for his leadership and the 32-year-old said he's delighted with how far Australia's 50-over side has come in recent months.

Australia have had to get their heads around tweaks to their approach to 50-over cricket during that period; the likes of Khawaja and Peter Handscomb have come in to the top order at the expense of more explosive talents like Chris Lynn and D'Arcy Short to change the flow of their overall batting style, while they've also been more willing to play two spinners instead of just one or none at all.

Finch said although there had some initial teething problems, they were starting to reap the rewards of a refreshed game plan.

"If you think back to six months ago, a lot of people were slamming us, a lot of people were writing us off for not just one-day cricket but all forms of cricket," said Finch.

"So it's been a really positive last couple of months and we've been really building and building really nicely.

"When you're building towards something and you've changed a bit of your strategy and game plan, I think it can a little bit of time to develop. It took a bit of time for guys maybe to fully buy into it and believe that it was the right way to play one-day cricket and the right strategy to go with.

"On the back of that, once the boys started believing and you have a little bit of success and you see things going your way, you buy into a bit more and you believe it a bit more.

"Until you win a game, until you win a series - then you have ultimate buy in and everyone's on the same page … any time the game's been in the balance, someone's put their hand up and taken that opportunity.

"That's probably been the most pleasing thing."

Qantas Tour of the UAE

First ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

Third ODI: Australia won by 80 runs

Fourth ODI: Australia won by six runs

Fifth ODI: Australia won by 20 runs