Australia captain Aaron Finch said that his side will see “no huge amount of changes” for the do-or-die T20 World Cup clash against England.
Australia’s win over Sri Lanka and England’s defeat at the hands of Ireland have thrown the group of death wide open. Australia and England will lock horns with eyes on the semi-final race at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 28.
Finch said “no one can try any harder” but conceded that “it doesn’t get much bigger” as “there is a lot on the line”. “It will be a great occasion and hopefully the weather clears up and we can have a great game.”
Finch also urged his teammates not to worry too much about the conditions after rain gods smiled on two matches at the MCG on October 26. England fell five runs short of 110, the par score, against Ireland when the rain interrupted the match.
The umpires called off the match as England ran out of time, handing Ireland a historic win. Meanwhile, the clash between New Zealand and Afghanistan was called off without a ball being bowled.
“Our side structures up pretty similar regardless (of conditions),” Finch said. “We’ve gone with a quite aggressive batting line-up with a powerful middle order in terms of (Glenn) Maxwell, (Marcus) Stoinis, (Tim) David, (Matthew) Wade at 4-7.
“So not a huge amount changes from our point of view. We feel as though each player can play their role and the situation really well. Playing a T20 World Cup at this time of year, the weather is inevitable.
“All you can do as a team is plan and prepare as well as you can for everything, which we’ve done every game so far. Our players are experienced enough to adapt to a shortened game if need be, but you can’t let that consume you and think too much about it. Our players have played enough cricket that they can do it (adjust for a rain-shortened game) on their own,” Finch said.
