Stoinis ‘good to go’ but Aussies wait on Finch, David

Australia are expected to make a call tomorrow evening on whether injured duo Aaron Finch and Tim David are fit enough to take their places in the defending champions' crucial final T20 World Cup Super 12s match against Afghanistan in Adelaide.

The pair underwent some very light running drills for about 20 minutes at Karen Rolton Oval this morning, and while neither appeared notably inconvenienced nor did they push themselves much above jogging pace.

They are both nursing hamstring injuries sustained in Australia's win over Ireland at the Gabba on Monday, with a similar issue that saw all-rounder Marcus Stoinis spend time off the field late in that game described as "precautionary" by national selection panel chair George Bailey today.

Bailey claimed Stoinis – who set a new benchmark for the fastest 50 by an Australian in men's T20I cricket (off 17 balls) against Sri Lanka last week – was "certainly good to go" but a final decision on skipper Finch and power-hitter David would come after training tomorrow afternoon.

"They're working through what they normally would after coming off a flight anyway," Bailey said during today's training session, in which only half a dozen members of Australia's 15-man squad took part after yesterday's flight from Brisbane.

"It's nice to have the extra day for them to be able to recover and get a bit of work in, and we'll keep assessing them over the next 48 hours.

"The fact they're out there moving, always after a travel day it's going to be pretty light anyway, but to see them out and moving and getting up to moderate speed is pretty good.

"I don't think the time frame (on making a call on their availability) will be different to any other game.

"We'll probably get together tomorrow post-training and work through that."

Finch had appeared the most doubtful to be passed fit in the wake of Monday's win, given the obvious inconvenience he showed when fielding and his post-match observation he has a history of hamstring injuries despite describing the issue as a "twinge".

But Bailey confirmed the veteran opener – Player of the Match in the Ireland win with his 63 off 44 balls, denoting a welcome return to form – would be required to tick off a number of fitness requirements as prescribed by team medical staff at tomorrow afternoon's training session.

"Then I guess it's just how much risk you're willing to tolerate," Bailey said today.

That risk equation is perhaps altered by the crucial nature of the upcoming Afghanistan fixture, which Australia must win if they are to have any hope of progressing to the tournament finals and most likely need to win emphatically if their title defence is to remain alive.

The fact their net run rate remains significantly inferior to Group One rivals New Zealand and England – with all three teams equal on points – mean a victory won't be enough for the host nation to progress if the Black Caps defeat Ireland (on Friday) and England triumph over Sri Lanka (Saturday).

However, while conceding run-rate equations will play a part in Friday's game to try and lift Australia's net run rate above nearest rival England, Bailey noted the team's initial priority had to be overcoming Afghanistan before they began focusing on finer details.

"First and foremost it's about winning the game," Bailey said, acknowledging there was likely to be "about 20 different scenarios" being played out as the game progressed.

"I don't think you want to get too carried away with anything other than that at the outset.

"At the fundamental level, Afghanistan are a very strong side and you need eleven fit and firing players to defeat them."

"No doubt we'll be aware of certain permutations, there's a lot that's out of our control given that England play Sri Lanka after our game anyway.

"I don't think we've put together a complete game of T20 cricket this tournament, so to go outside of that and start searching (and) forgetting first and foremost to win the game would be dangerous for us.

"But we will be aware of what we need to do if we need to press a button at some stage.

"I think we've got a team that's got the talent that if they need to put the foot down and do something special, they've got it in them."

Should either Finch or David be ruled out of Friday's game after tomorrow's training session at Adelaide Oval, Bailey confirmed it would be former skipper Steve Smith and all-rounder Cameron Green who loom as logical replacements.

Green was one of several Australia players, along with spin-bowling all-rounder Ashton Agar and fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who practiced their boundary-clearing skills with the bat during today's session.

Agar and auxiliary seamer Kane Richardson were the only squad members to bowl for any length of time today, while Stoinis's involvement in the light session was a series of stretching routines.

Bailey admitted Australia's precarious position heading into the final round of Super 12 matches was the direct result of their poor showing in the opening game against New Zealand, where a heavy loss inflicted mortal damage to the team's net run rate.

As a consequence, the reigning champions' fate may remain beyond their control even if they do complete an expected win over Afghanistan due to the fact England play at the SCG on Saturday and will know the precise equation to stay ahead of their arch-rivals on NRR.

"There's ways around that – getting beaten by 90 runs in your first game is probably the first way to make sure that doesn't happen," Bailey said of Australia's predicament.

Men's T20 World Cup 2022

Australia squad: Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia's fixtures

Oct 22: Lost to New Zealand by 89 runs

Oct 25: Beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

Oct 28: Match abandoned v England

Oct 31: Beat Ireland by 42 runs

Nov 4: v Afghanistan, Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

Click here for the full 2022 T20 World Cup fixture