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Good news for Australia? Finch reckons he'll be right to play must-win game against Afghanistan

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3rd November, 2022
14

Captain Aaron Finch says if he feels any hamstring twinge he’ll have no tinge of regret at possibly ending his Australian career on the sidelines.

Finch on Thursday rated himself a 70 per cent chance of playing in Australia’s do-or-die T20 World Cup clash against Afghanistan on Friday night.

But if he has one per cent of doubt come game time, Finch will withdraw from a fixture the Australians must win to have any hope of advancing to the semi-finals.

Finch said he hasn’t thought of his future beyond Friday night’s game, but he’s expected to call stumps on his international career at the end of the T20 cup after already retiring from one-dayers.

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Potentially ending his international career while injured on the sidelines wasn’t a factor in deciding whether to play against the Afghans, he said.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 31: Aaron Finch of Australia reacts after the wicket of Mitchell Marsh of Australia during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup match between Australia and Ireland at The Gabba on October 31, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Aaron Finch (Photo by Chris Hyde-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

“It won’t make it harder one bit,” Finch told reporters on Thursday.

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“If I feel like one per cent (doubt) would be compromising the side’s performance, I won’t play.

“If I don’t feel confident in my hamstring … if I feel any pain or anything like that, I won’t play.”

Finch said middle-order blaster Tim David, also suffering a hamstring niggle, was in the exact situation.

“The worst possible scenario is that you leave the guys short out there … you don’t want to compromise the team performance by having a guy go down who comes in with a niggle,” he said.

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been cleared of his hamstring scare and will play against the Afghans.

Australia sit in third spot in their group behind leaders New Zealand and England – all three nations have five points.

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The Kiwis play Ireland in Adelaide on Friday afternoon before Australia’s game, while England meet Sri Lanka in the last game of the group on Saturday.

Should the three favoured nations win, net run-rate will decide the two countries progressing to the semis but Finch was wary of overly focusing on the maths equations.

“You still have to earn the right to be able to push for a net run rate,” he said.

“The the last thing that you want to happen is you push too hard, you compromise the two points (for winning) and then potentially if something happened in the Sri Lankan-England game, you leave yourself vulnerable.

“There’s obviously some scenarios there that we need to keep an eye on throughout the game so, if we get in a good position, that we can maximise it.”

© AAP

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