Finch confident Aussies can buck World Cup trend

Australia captain Aaron Finch has backed his side to buck the trend of the tournament to win their maiden Twenty20 World Cup if they bat first.

Australia head into Monday morning's (1am AEDT) final with New Zealand in Dubai knowing that their five wins in the tournament have come after batting second.

That included their successful pursuit of Pakistan's target of 177 in the semi-final of a competition that, since the start of the Super 12 stage, has seen just 11 of the 32 matches won by the team batting first.

Six of those 11 victories came against Associates Scotland and Namibia but Finch, who put Pakistan in to bat after winning the toss in the semi-final, said he was confident Australia could defy the odds and emerge victorious if they bat first.

"Absolutely it can be overcome. I said a couple of weeks ago that to win this tournament, at some point you are going to have to win the tournament by batting first," he said.

"I was actually hoping to lose the toss because I would've loved to have put a score on the board against Pakistan.

"It comes down to the day. If you can put a big enough total on the board and make the opposition take risks early in their innings, then that's what it's all about and to try and exploit that.

"I reckon around the world T20 teams love chasing but it comes with its risks if an opposition puts a big score on."

The only time Australia batted first was their sole loss of the tournament when they were thrashed by England.

Other sides might have sought mass changes after they lost by eight wickets, but the Australian captain says there has been an element of vindication in sticking solid to their strategy and selection.

"We just spoke about backing our plans and skills," he said.

"You have to be brave in T20 cricket and put it all on the line.

"The fact we've done it with bat and ball shows the commitment from the team to be able to stick to their own plans and play to their strengths."

Since that loss to England, Australia have strung three impressive wins together, but Finch dismissed the suggestion any "momentum" would help their cause on Monday morning.

"I don't believe in momentum especially in tournaments like this," he added.

"You're playing a different opposition all the time so you're not playing on the same wicket, same opposition so it's hard to drill into any positive match-ups you might get.

"It's about the team who turns up and executes on the day. T20 cricket can be brutal at times."

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: Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets

Semi-finals

Nov 10: New Zealand beat England by five wickets

Nov 11: Australia beat Pakistan by five wickets

Final

Nov 14: New Zealand v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 15 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