Coulter-Nile concedes the axe could come on Sunday

Nathan Coulter-Nile played the "innings of his life" to save Australia at Trent Bridge, but the allrounder fears he won't even hold his spot for their next match against India.

After Australia had slumped to 6-147, Coulter-Nile put together a dazzling rear-guard innings against West Indies and might have become the first No.8 in ODI history to score a century had he not continued batting with a broken bat as he approached the milestone.

His 92 off just 60 balls proved vital in a thrilling 15-run victory, but the 31-year-old believes two wicketless outings with the ball against Afghanistan in Bristol (where he took 0-36 off eight overs) and then the Windies could cost him at the selection table.

Asked if he felt his spot was secure, Coulter-Nile said flatly: "No. I took none for 70.

"We've got two world-class (fast) bowlers (on the sidelines). I'm not in the team to make runs, hopefully the top order does that, so I wouldn't be surprised if I got dropped for the next game.

"I'm in the team to take wickets and I've had two wicketless games, so we'll see how we go."

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are undoubtedly Australia's first-choice pacemen, while coach Justin Langer has indicated that Nathan Lyon has been seriously considered as a second spinner alongside Adam Zampa for their two games so far.

Back-up quicks Jason Behrendorff and Kane Richardson could also come into contention for Sunday's crunch game against India at The Oval.

But Coulter-Nile insists the competition for spots doesn't make him uneasy.

"I actually like it," he said.

"I think it's good to have competition and it wouldn't be good if we had no one pushing you trying to get better, so I love it."

Coulter-Nile combined with Steve Smith (73) for a vital counter-attacking stand of 102 off just 89 balls and hit all four of Australia's sixes – including two in one Sheldon Cottrell over – to fire them to a match-winning score of 288.

"To have a guy play the innings of his life was something I'm sure you guys enjoyed watching," said vice-captain Alex Carey, who earlier scored 45 off 55 deliveries.

"He's capable of striking the ball very cleanly, I've seen that a number of times now. Some days you just get on a roll and he did that."

While he's made centuries for his club side Subiaco-Floreat in WA Premier Cricket, Coulter-Nile’s previous highest score coming into Thursday's clash at Trent Bridge across all top-flight cricket was 64.

The right-hander, who credited former Western Australia opener Liam Davis for helping him make recent improvements to his batting, conceded the thought of making a World Cup ton did cross his mind late in the innings.

But it didn’t curb his aggressive stroke play and he fell short of the milestone attempting another big shot on the off side.

"The only time I looked up and I thought 'jeez' was when I was on about 90, I think," he said.

"Then I started thinking about it (a century).

"I just thought ‘jeez that's a lot of runs'.

"I broke my bat one of the shots, I didn't want to change it, maybe I should have done that."

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: India v Australia, The Oval

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