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Strategic shift kick-starts Khawaja’s Cup

Ricky Ponting explains the decision to stick with Usman Khawaja at No.3, says Australia have enough batting firepower to match England and India

A bid to kick-start Usman Khawaja's World Cup campaign was behind Australia’s decision to go against recent strategy and stick with the left-hander at No.3 against Bangladesh, assistant coach Ricky Ponting has revealed.

And with Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith and now Khawaja all hitting their stride, Ponting believes Australia have the batting firepower to topple tournament favourites England next week, despite some “rumblings” to the contrary.

The Aussies have unveiled a fresh tactical approach at this World Cup, often manipulating their top order in a bid to maintain a left- and right-handed combination in the middle.

That has seen Smith elevated to No.3 twice during the tournament when fellow right-hander Finch has been the first wicket to fall, meaning Khawaja has been pushed down the order.

But the call to go against that ploy and send Khawaja out to the middle when Finch was dismissed at Trent Bridge on Thursday paid off handsomely as the Queensland batsman scored 89 off just 72 balls, putting on 192 with fellow leftie Warner to fire Australia to their second-largest total at a World Cup.

Smith would normally have come to the crease when Finch departed, Ponting explained, but Australia's brain trust decided to give Khawaja a golden opportunity to shake off his slow start to the tournament.

"If it was a match-up thing, with Finch getting out, we probably could have sent Smith in at No.3,” Ponting told cricket.com.au after Australia’s 48-run win.

“They had a right-arm off-spinner (Mehedi Hasan) that we knew was going to bowl there and then. It's probably not ideal to have the two lefties there. 

"We weighed up what was the right call to make and we just felt getting Usman into the game today, and into the tournament more importantly, was the right thing to do."

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Khawaja entered the World Cup as the world’s leading ODI run scorer this year having starred as an opener in Warner's absence on the recent tours of India and the UAE. But the latter's return has pushed Khawaja down to first drop, where he’d managed scores of just 15, 13 and 10 there before Thursday, while he's also batted at No.4 and No.6 during the tournament despite having previously only ever batted in the top three in his career.

The 32-year-old has also been a victim of the Finch-Warner union proving so fruitful, with the pair – who occupy two of the top three spots on the leading run-scorer’s charts – on Thursday notching their fifth fifty-plus partnership in six games.

"It probably has (been tough adjusting) because he's had so much success opening in the last few months,” Ponting said of Khawaja’s low returns before Thursday’s game. “He was the leading run scorer for Australia in the last few one-day series. 

"It's great to see Usman grab an opportunity like today. Batting the last couple of games out of position wasn't ideal for him. 

"But he had plenty of time to bat today on a good surface and he made the most of it. Although he's been unsettled, it just shows the maturity he's got and that he is adaptable."

The fact Khawaja’s strike-rate (123.61) against Bangladesh eclipsed that of hard-hitting duo Finch and Warner will have given Australia no end of satisfaction. 

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Ponting insisted Khawaja, who has previously admitted opening is his favoured batting position, was making good strides adjusting to the No.3 role that the former skipper filled with aplomb for more than 15 years.

“People don't understand that opening to No.3 is a lot different,” the three-time World Cup winner said.

“You're not starting with all the field in, you're not starting against the brand-new ball, quite often you're starting against spin bowling with the field out. He's probably not going to get the boundaries as early (in his innings) as he does when he opens the batting.

"He's a very good player of fast bowling and he gets new-ball boundaries easily. But when he's got to come in and start against spin, his ability to come in and rotate the strike and be six off 10 balls rather than one off 10 balls is something that's going to help him a lot.” 

Having watched his side rack up 5-381 against Bangladesh, Ponting declared suggestions Australia haven't got the batting firepower to match the likes of England and India at this tournament are off the mark.

Favourites England have scored at a faster rate than any team in ODI history in recent times and will provide a stern test for the Australians when they face each other on Tuesday at Lord's.

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But Ponting says his side won't consider altering their batting tactics for the highly-anticipated clash.

"Our batting line-up understands that we need to be flexible, to have the right player for right moment and the right situation," he said.

"We feel like we had the right situation for Usman today. Who knows what it's going to be against England? We might lose one (of the openers) in the first over, we might be 0-200 – who knows which way it’s going to go. We'll just wait and see what unfolds.

"Today is really good reinforcement for how we are travelling as a team and as a batting group.

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"There's probably been a few rumblings around that this batting line-up is not powerful enough to score those big scores and compete against India and England. I've never agreed with that. 

"I think it's really good reinforcement today for the players to understand (that) if they play their games as well as they can, I've got no doubts we can score as heavily as anybody in this tournament. 

"If Warner comes off, if Finch comes off, if (Glenn) Maxwell comes off like he did (today) for a little bit longer, I've got no doubt we've got as much firepower as anyone."

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 beat Pakistan by 41 runs

June 15: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs

June 20: Australia beat Bangladesh by 48 runs

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