Aaron Finch: "You have to beat the best to win the title"

Australia captain Aaron Finch says his side will take confidence from their victory over England at Lord's when they face the hosts in Thursday's semi-final at Edgbaston

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Australia captain Aaron Finch says his side will take confidence from their victory over England at Lord's when they face the hosts in Thursday's semi-final at Edgbaston.

South Africa's 10-run victory at Old Trafford meant Australia missed out on the chance to remain in Manchester and face New Zealand at the same venue on Tuesday.

"I said from the start, the great thing about this format is you have to play everyone, you have to beat the best to win the title," said Finch.

"We didn't play our best cricket today, no doubt... the way that we fought back to get as close as we did after not playing our best was still an encouraging sign.

"Playing well against England at Lord's a couple of weeks ago will give us some good confidence going into that game.

"England have been in really good form recently so again we're going to have to be at our best to win that.

"It is going to be exciting. Any time Australia plays England it is exciting. Any time you are at Birmingham as well, it's a fun crowd to play in front of there. It will be a great spectacle no doubt."

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Usman Khawaja receives treatment

Meanwhile, Australia have major concerns over Usman Khawaja who was forced to retire hurt with a hamstring injury before returning to bat as his side looked to get over the line.

"Usman's not looking great in all honesty," Finch admitted post mach. "He's done a couple of hammies before and he said it feels similar to that. So, in terms of replacements, we haven't had time to talk about that yet.

"He didn't aggravate it anymore when he got back out there. He wanted to go out and especially once we got as close as what we did. I think when you got guys like Rabada, Morris, still to finish off, having a batter in was going to be crucial, so that didn't work out the way that we planned.

"He's well and truly put the team first there which is a great quality to have and something that we pride ourselves on that each and every player will always put the team first and to get in a position to win it. He was more than happy to go out."

Additionally, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Starc both dealt with injuries during the match.

"Marcus is a bit sore in his side. We'll have to wait for scans tomorrow to know the finer details of it. Obviously, it is tough to talk about replacements and things like that when you haven't got the full story.

"He [Starc] just landed funny that ball. His ankle, when you get some foot holes and edges on foot holes, if he changes his position on the crease, at times he lands in it and it just jars it. No issue there."

Our coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is brought to you in association with Cricket 19, the official video game of the Ashes. Order your copy now at Amazon.co.uk

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