Finch's side unchanged as they face crunch clash with their Caribbean rivals in their final match of the group stages at this T20 World Cup
Aussies win toss and bowl against West Indies
Australia have won the toss and will bowl first in their final T20 World Cup group stage game against West Indies in Abu Dhabi.
Aaron Finch's side is unchanged from the one that thrashed Bangladesh two nights ago to breathe life back into their campaign.
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood #T20WorldCup%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 6, 2021
West Indies XI: Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Roston Chase, Shemron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh Jnr, Akeal Hosein #T20WorldCup%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 6, 2021
West Indies meanwhile, have brought in leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr, who was a standout when these two sides squared off in a five-match T20I series in the Caribbean earlier this year, with Ravi Rampaul missing out.
The two-time world champions also farewell veteran allrounder Dwayne Bravo after a 17-year international career.
It's a must-win match for West Indies today. If they lose, they will drop to Number 9 (according to the ICC T20 Rankings predictor). If they are outside Top 8 by November 15, 2021, they will not "directly qualify for Super 12" of T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. #AusvWI%E2%80%94 Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) November 6, 2021
Australia won't discover their World Cup fate until several hours after their final group match tonight as they and South Africa battle for just one spot in the tournament's semi-finals.
The outcome of South Africa's match against England, starting on Sunday at 1am AEDT, will ultimately determine the fate of both teams.
Australia and the Proteas are currently level on six points each, with the Aussies holding a 0.289 advantage on net run rate, which will be the deciding factor if both teams secure the same result tonight.
Not including no results and ties (which is unlikely given multiple Super Overs can be played in the event of scores being level), there are four possible outcomes from the two matches:
1) Australia win and South Africa lose, which would see Australia advance to the semi-finals
2) Australia lose and South Africa win, which would see South Africa advance to the semi-finals
3) Both Australia and South Africa win, which would see the team with the superior net run rate advance to the final four
4) Both Australia and South Africa lose, which would see the team with the superior net run rate advance to the final four
England currently top the Group 1 on eight points and given their strong net run rate are all but certain to top the group, even if they lose to South Africa.
South Africa's skipper Temba Bavuma admitted his side have an advantage over Australia given they play second tonight, meaning they'll know exactly what they need to do against England in order to progress.
Australia's clinical run chase against Bangladesh on Thursday handed them a significant boost to their net run rate, moving them ahead of the Proteas on the table.
But given they play first tonight, the Aussies won't have a clear picture of South Africa's final net run rate during their game against the Windies, with skipper Finch saying his side will put those equations out of their minds.
"Behind the scenes, we made a conscious effort not to talk about net run rate and things like that," he said.
"You've obviously got to put yourself in a position to win the game before you can worry about anything else.
"We've just to play our best game again, and hopefully there's three games to go to win a tournament.
"We'd love to keep it in our control. That's all you can focus on. As soon as you start hoping other teams lose, it just clouds your judgement and your vision.
"So it's really important that we stick to our guns (and) stick to our process because we know that's good enough when we get it right."
2021 Men's T20 World Cup
Australia's squad
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams
Oct 23: Australia beat South Africa by five wickets
Oct 28: Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets
Oct 30: England beat Australia by eight wickets
Nov 4: Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets
Nov 6 v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)
All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.
Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule
Click here for the full squads for all 16 teams
Super 12 stage
Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia