Aussies face key call as fit-again Stoinis pushes case

Marcus Stoinis will be available for Australia's clash with an in-form South African outfit at his Indian Premier League home as Aussies look to get their World Cup campaign on track in Lucknow.

Captain Pat Cummins confirmed Stoinis had recovered from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past five matches but held back from revealing Australia's XI for their second match of the tournament.

Stoinis has trained strongly over the past week, bowling off his full run again at training on Tuesday night for about 40 minutes and teammate Glenn Maxwell said he was only a day off being available for their World Cup opener.

While key weapon Adam Zampa struggled for impact in difficult dewy conditions in Australia's first up loss to India in Chennai last Sunday, Cummins said there were no lingering issues from the soreness that kept him out of Australia's two warm-up matches and the third ODI in Rajkot last month.

"(Zampa's) prep leading in was probably a bit lighter than what he would normally have, but I wouldn't look too far into the last game," Cummins told reporters on match eve.

"I thought he bowled OK but it's pretty hard defending 200 to try to create something out of nothing.

"I'm sure he'll be great out there, and if he has a bit more of a total to bowl to, he's one of our key guys."

Like Chennai, conditions in Lucknow have generally suited the slow bowlers, with wickets split about 50-50 between seam and spin in the four ODIs played at Ekana Stadium as well as IPL 2023.

But Cummins said the pitch looked different to what it did during the IPL, with a "really even" coverage of grass that could perhaps offer "a bit of pace and bounce" to the quicks.

Prior to Australia's training session on Wednesday, Cummins was spotted in a long discussion with head coach Andrew McDonald, men's national selection chair George Bailey and coaching consultant Andy Flower adjacent to the wicket square with Cameron Green looming as the most likely to make way should they opt for Stoinis.

Selectors will be tempted to recall Stoinis – a proven match-winner – for the crucial clash despite the West Australian failing to reach 50 in 32 ODI innings, with no team reaching the semi-finals in 2019 (the same format as this year's World Cup) after losing their first two games.

Cummins said he didn't expect the dew to have as big an impact in Lucknow – a city of about 4 million people situated in northern India about 140km from the Nepalese border.

"I don't really have a strong opinion on the dew in one-day cricket. In some games the ball gets heavy and it's actually better to bowl at night and other games it gets so slippery that it's hard to grip onto, so it's a bit different to T20," he said.

"We're disappointed after the first match, we weren't at our best.

"So everyone's pretty driven, the last few days we trained really well and we're ready to go for this one."

Australia are also awaiting an update on injured opener Travis Head, who is due to have follow up scans and see his surgeon in Adelaide on Thursday, which they hope will provide a clearer timeline on his return to the squad.

The left-hander was included in the squad of 15 for the World Cup despite being expected to miss the first half of the tournament after fracturing his left hand when he was hit on the glove by a Gerald Coetzee delivering in the fourth ODI against South Africa last month.

After losing to India by six wickets last Sunday, Australia will be out to avoid a fourth straight defeat in men's 50-over World Cups after losing their last two matches in 2019 (final group match against South Africa then the semi-final to England), which would be a record for their longest losing run in the history of the tournament.

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: v South Africa, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

November 15: First semi-final, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 16: Second semi-final, Kolkata (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 19: Final, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa