Captain Aaron Finch has backed Pat Cummins to find top gear in their match against New Zealand, as Australia mull their best bowling combinations on what shapes as the driest pitch they’ve played on at the World Cup.Cummins has taken none for 106 from 18 overs in wins over Bangladesh and England, but Finch suggested the numbers are misleading and labelled him a key part of their attack.
“With the ball I think he’s been excellent,” Finch said of Cummins, who took 11 wickets in Australia’s first five games.
“There’s nothing to suggest otherwise. Yes, he hasn’t got the wickets in the last two games, but he’s still been a huge part of our side.
“He’s someone who’s so reliable that you go to when you either need a wicket or you need some control in a game. He provides so much for the side.”
Having expressed his surprise that pace had prospered over spin in the early stages of the tournament, Finch says Australia remain open to playing two spinners with the mercury tipped to hit 32 degrees for Saturday’s clash with the Kiwis.
The Lord’s pitch used for the Australia-New Zealand game will be the same one that hosted Australia and England earlier in the week and will have been exposed to 72 hours of hot and dry weather come the weekend.
Finding room for both Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa in their XI will be difficult given coach Justin Langer has said neither Cummins nor Mitchell Starc are likely to be rested, while Jason Behrendorff is fresh off a career-best 5-44 after being recalled to play England.
Lyon got the nod over Zampa for his first game of the tournament on Tuesday, but Finch said it’s difficult to split the two and suggested match-ups with individual New Zealand batters would dictate selection, as they did against England.
“They’re both neck and neck,” said Finch. “The way Nathan bowled the other day is probably more of a defensive option, a bit more control.
“But leg-spin is an incredibly hard craft. For Zamps, the numbers were against Zamps (for) England, Nathan had a distinctive advantage.
“That’s just the way we’re looking at it. There’s nothing more or nothing less to it. There is no science. Just looking a bit deeper into tournaments.”
Asked if they could play together, Finch said: “Absolutely.”