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Australian batter Steve Smith said that Australia are hoping to peak at the right time, as they have won five consecutive matches in the World Cup and are on the verge of joining India and South Africa in the semifinals.
India are expected to finish at the top of the points table, while South Africa have already qualified for the semifinals. Australia can join them if they win their next match against Afghanistan, which will be played on November 7.
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"You do want to be peaking at the right time in the end, but obviously you need to do enough to make the semifinals. I think that would be the beauty of it if we were able to get there," Smith told the media before Australia's training session at the Wankhede Stadium.
"You know, we had a rough start, we lost two games and we have gradually, I guess, progressed as we have gone along and there are still areas we can work on," said Smith, added that it is still unclear whether Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell will play in the match against Afghanistan on November 7, even though they are back in training.
Smith said that India's massive win over South Africa makes the challenge even tougher for Australia going forward.
"Tomorrow (November 7) is a big game for us. I think if we win — we qualify — if that is correct. I think you want to be peaking at the right time for sure and the two teams up top are playing really good cricket, in particular India, who beat the second team, South Africa, yesterday pretty convincingly," he said.
"They are going to be tough to beat — there is no doubt about that. But I think we are playing some good cricket so hopefully we can have a good day, get ourselves in there and give ourselves a chance," the middle-order batter added.
Smith encouraged the Australian players to support their captain Pat Cummins, who has put in significant effort to guide the team out of a challenging situation after losing two games in the beginning.
"He has improved as it has sort of gone on. He has got the tempo of the game, he is understanding the pace of the game a lot more and like I said he has not done it a lot, so he is sort of working into it.
"He has done a terrific job after we were particularly 0-2, to get us in the position where we are now. We are right behind him and hopefully we can play well for him," Smith said.
Smith disclosed experiencing vertigo during a media briefing, but he expressed optimism that he would be able to play in the match.
"Occasionally, I have had a few episodes, so I can tell you it is not the funniest space to be in, but yeah, I will go out and have a hit and hopefully be okay and we will see how we go," he said.
Australia's upcoming cricket match against Afghanistan will have political connotations, given Cricket Australia's cancellation of their ODI series earlier this year, but Steve Smith declined to comment on the matter.
‘It is far above my pay grade’: Steve Smith
"We obviously played against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup at home recently and we are playing tomorrow so it is not a question for me," he added.
He praised Afghanistan for their impressive World Cup campaign, noting that they have won key moments in important matches. Afghanistan are currently sixth in the table but still have a chance to reach the semifinals.
"They have won some key moments in games against some good teams and clearly their spinners are a big threat. They are quality bowlers and they have got some batters, particularly at the top of the order that are taking the game on and can take it away from you," he further said.
Australia have won their last four matches after batting first, and Smith suggested that they could stick with this winning formula, given the performance of other teams at the Wankhede Stadium.
"Firstly, I'm not sure, I think (at) this ground — we have seen South Africa score 400-odd I think batting first, it can be a very good chasing ground so we have got to sum a few things up obviously before we make that decision," he continued.
Smith said that Adam Zampa has been bowling brilliantly and leading the wicket-taking charts in the World Cup.
"He has progressed beautifully throughout this tournament. He bowled beautifully the other night and to be fair England batters probably did not put him under as much pressure as we thought they might have done," Smith said talking about his 3/21 against England in Ahmedabad.
"He controlled his length and his pace beautifully and it is probably as good as I have seen him bowl to be fair, and did he not just have a good day out with that ball and in the field!? It was a special day for him and yeah pleased to see," the batter concluded.
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