Have full faith in our all-rounders to bowl 4 overs: Finch

Australia skipper Aaron Finch, on the eve of his side's first T20 World Cup 2021 clash against South Africa, has hinted that there is a high possibility of the Kangaroos fielding seven specialist batters, after insisting that he has "got a lot of confidence" in the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis to potentially deliver four overs and double-up as a fifth bowler.

Australia have a pretty settled starting XI, with the only point of contention being the number of specialist bowlers they field. Playing five bowlers would make their attack well-rounded, but such a move would weaken the side's batting, for it would mean one of Smith, Marsh or Stoinis sitting out. Without revealing specifics about the starting XI, Finch, on Friday, asserted that he has faith in his all-rounder's to do a job with the ball in hand.

"We've got a lot of confidence in the depth of our squad, we've got a lot of confidence in (Glenn) Maxwell, (Marcus) Stoinis and (Mitchell) Marsh to bowl four overs as well," Finch said on Friday.

"We think that on these wickets in these conditions they can do a really good job and be an attacking option as much as anything."

The Australian skipper further admitted that dew could potentially play a big part in the latter stages of the tournament, but asserted that the Aussies are not focused on the same, given they predominantly play day games. The 34-year-old further stressed that, regardless of the conditions, it will be imperative for his side to be aggressive with the bat in the powerplay.

"Four of our five games are day games. The only night game we've got is our third game against England.

"As the conditions cool down slightly in the coming month or so, it will probably become heavier and heavier dew so then the toss does become really important.

"Regardless of how dewy it does get, if you can control that part of the game, it just goes a huge, huge distance to winning the match," Finch said.

Finch added that two warm-up games, against New Zealand and India, had been a real boost for Australia, with players at varying levels of match readiness.

"We obviously haven't played a huge amount of cricket... over the last probably 18 months," he said in reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It's exciting to have everyone together. The guys have been at different stages of their preparation for the tournament being, whether it's IPL, some guys are coming off injury, some guys are coming off pre-season back at home.

"It's coming together quite nicely. To have two really good hit-outs against New Zealand and India was crucial for our preparation as well, to be able to hit the ground running once we got here and sort of brush up on our skills and just play together. It's been really nice."

Finch added that those two warm-ups had also been a personal confidence booster, coming after he underwent knee surgery following Australia's tour of the Caribbean.

"The knee's feeling great, it's feeling a bit better than what I thought it would at this stage, to be honest, so to be able to play them first to warm up games ... was crucial, to get a few in the middle was nice," he said.

"Everyone's in a pretty good space to be honest, the way that the group's come together, the feeling around the place has been brilliant. We're really excited to kick it off tomorrow."

(with AFP inputs)