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Your support makes all the difference.Aaron Finch has heaped the pressure on England by reminding the World Cup hosts of Australia's unrivalled tournament record.
Pre-tournament favourites England have never won a World Cup, despite reaching the finals in 1979, 1987 and 1992, while Australia have lifted the trophy on five occasions, most recently in 2015 on home soil.
The pair meet at Lord’s on Tuesday with England looking to recover from their shock defeat to Sri Lanka whilst Australia look to be in tantalising form with the batting prowess of the returning David Warner driving them forward.
Finch pointed towards the wealth of experience that his Australia team can boast, as well as their intrinsic ability to deal with high-pressure scenarios.
The 32-year-old said: “I think over the World Cup history, Australia have had that record of peaking at the right time of the tournament.
“The fact that we've got six guys in our squad who were part of 2015 World Cup win is really valuable. We've also got Ricky Ponting [and] Brad Haddin with us, coaching staff who have won World Cups, as well.”
England’s 20-run loss to Sri Lanka has increased the pressure on the hosts to put in a performance, especially as the risk of group stage elimination has increased exponentially.
Yet, Finch was coy on the pressure that England face, instead electing to note that the tournament as a whole puts pressure on every single nation, regardless of the circumstance.
“The pressure is there on each and every individual, but also each and every team,” Finch said. “Teams will be pushing for that last couple of spots in the final four, whether you're in there at the moment or you're pushing hard to be that side; I think the pressure is on everyone.”
Australia ended a seven-game losing streak in ODI cricket to England back in May after a 12-run victory at Southampton, however Finch is still wary of the threat England possess.
“I think the warm-up game, there was quite a few of England's probably first choice 11 missing: Joe Root didn't play; Eoin [Morgan] didn't play; [Jofra] Archer didn't play, so I don't think you can say that [we’ve turned a corner],” he said.
Adding: “I think that we're going in with a lot of confidence, no doubt. I think when you get into a situation where the crunch comes, it's going to be the team that holds their nerve.
“The team that holds their nerve the longest and under the highest pressure that will succeed, no doubt.”
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