Maxwell set to line up against South Africa

Glenn Maxwell looks set to shake off the arm injury he sustained in a nightmare net session and play in Australia's final World Cup group-stage game against South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Maxwell was peppered with short balls by coaches Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting armed with plastic throwing devices at training on the eve of Australia's clash with South Africa, having been smashed on the right forearm by a Mitchell Starc bouncer a day earlier.

The right-hander, who has since been cleared of any serious damage, looked in no pain as he batted for the best part of an hour. Captain Aaron Finch said Maxwell would make a call on his own fitness.

"He seems pretty good," Finch told reporters. "He said he's been able to hold the bat no problem, it will just be a case of how he feels in the net when he has a hit.

"We will leave that call up to him, if he feels confident enough to get out there and do the job."

Shaun Marsh underwent surgery while Australia trained on Friday, having suffered an eerily similar blow about 10 minutes after Maxwell's. The knock broke his arm and ended his tournament ahead of next week's finals.

His replacement Peter Handscomb will ride the bench for the Proteas clash if Maxwell plays, though Finch suggested the batsman would be capable of filling a key middle-order spot if required.

"We saw how well he played in India and in the UAE," Finch of Handscomb, who is averaging 43.54 from 13 ODIs this year but missed selection in the original World Cup squad.

"The resilience he showed after a tough summer as well and then to come out in those series and to perform really well … shows that he's well and truly ready to step in and play if required.

"He was really stiff to miss out in the first place on the World Cup squad and every opportunity he's had recently with bat in hand, he's nailed. We are very confident that if required, he will do that job."

Finch admitted Marsh's "freak" injury had been a bitter pill for the Aussies to swallow. The Western Australian will stay with the squad for the remainder of the tournament.

"It hit the boys pretty hard yesterday," Finch said of Marsh's diagnosis. "It is not ideal having anyone ruled out of any opposition or any team throughout the tournament.

"It was just unfortunate that it hit him where it did. An inch lower, an inch higher, and he would be fine.

"It was one of those freak things which was really unfortunate. He's a very resilient bloke, very tough bloke - we're all right behind him."

Maxwell has had a stop-start World Cup campaign, playing a handful of brief but explosive cameos while also missing out on the few occasions he's had the opportunity to craft a substantial innings.

The right-hander has spanked 143 runs off just 75 balls at a tournament-leading strike-rate of 190.66, and while he's averaging only 23.83, he insists he's in career-best touch.

"I feel like I haven't hit the ball better in my career, I just haven't got runs," Maxwell said this week.

"It's nice to be relaxed when I go out in the middle. Runs just haven't come the way I would have liked, but I don't think they're far away.

"If I was out of form and out of runs, I think I'd be a little more nervous.

"It's about not over-complicating it and not reinventing the wheel at training. I've stuck to the way I've gone about my training … and making sure you're not clouding your head even further."

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: Australia beat England by 64 runs

June 29: Australia beat New Zealand by 86 runs

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