Finch defends unsuccessful run chase tactics

Australia insist their game plan has the ability to allow them to pull off big run chases, despite finishing 36 short against India at the Cricket World Cup.

In pursuit of what would have been a record chase of 353, Australia kept wickets in hand as the rate required reached 11 with 15 overs to go at The Oval.

They then attempted to up the ante, with Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja combining for some big overs before all perished close to each other.

"I thought if we could have some wickets in hand and some batters in toward the back end of the innings, we could potentially do some damage," captain Aaron Finch said.

"But we probably just kept losing wickets when we were trying to up the run rate and then as you know, when new batters come in, the run rate creeps up slowly."

With one of the most conventional top orders in the tournament, Australia's mindset centres around one of their early batsmen scoring big and others exploding late around them.

Smith (69) and David Warner (55) both scored half centuries in the loss, while Finch (36) and Khawaja (42) got starts as the Aussies went at 5.3 through the first 35 overs.

"The deeper you take it, the better it is for us," vice-captain Alex Carey, who hit a quickfire 50 at the end, said.

"We trust our batters, if they want to soak up a few balls and finish it off, they've done it in the past. Just assessing the conditions.

"We probably didn't have that set batter at the back end like we would have liked.

"It would have been nice to have one of our top players who made 40 or 50 go on and make a big score and win the game for us."

The form of Warner is the most interesting, with another uncharacteristically slow knock.

Warner's 55 came off 84 balls and was the slowest of any half century of his ODI career, with a strike rate of 66.66. He faced 50 dot balls on Sunday.

The returning opener spoke after his first game about getting his feet moving again after a year of almost exclusively playing Twenty20 cricket during his ban.

"It hasn't been a plan, a team plan or an individual plan for David," Finch said.

"I think they bowled really well early.

"They just didn't give us any width to get away or any length to really work with, either over the top or get a drive away."

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia beat West Indies by 15 runs

June 9: Australia lost to India by 36 runs

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

Sync Australia's World Cup schedule to your calendar HERE

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE