Mitch Marsh and David Warner put on a record partnership against Pakistan but Travis Head's looming return will see a change
Head will resume opening role when fit: Bailey
Travis Head has been locked in for a return to the top of the order when fit to take his place in Australia's World Cup side, despite Mitch Marsh's blistering form while standing in for the injured opener.
Marsh cracked his second ODI century on Friday on his 32nd birthday, sharing an Australian record stand of 259 with David Warner for any wicket in the 50-over format in India.
His 108-ball 121 takes his tally to 351 runs striking at 108.3 in seven innings since replacing Head as opener after the South Australian suffered a fractured left hand when hit on the glove against South Africa last month.
But Marsh will likely have to settle for sliding to No.3 after men's national selection chair George Bailey confirmed Head would slot in as opener once he is cleared to return to the field.
Head is due to rejoin Australia's World Cup squad in Delhi today following the side's 62-run victory over Pakistan in Bengaluru last night where both openers – Marsh and David Warner (163) – hit centuries.
The left-hander avoided surgery on his hand but was in a splint until nine days ago. While he started hitting tennis balls before progressing to facing bowlers throughout last week, but Bailey said he wasn't sure how realistic a return would be for Australia's next match against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
"It's always nicer when you get eyes on it yourself," Bailey said.
"It can be a six to eight-week injury. He's ticked all the boxes in terms of the four-week scan and the bone has healed, so that's all going well, and he's progressed really well through the week (since he started batting).
"But clearly the whole point of having him (in the squad) and carrying him to this point is not to then risk it by bringing him back early.
"So if it works out that it's Dutch game, great. If it's a little bit further on, then that's OK."
His return will be a welcome headache for Aussie selectors with the top order firing in their past two matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan after a slow start to the World Cup.
Head, Marsh and Warner have all found success in ODIs at the top of the order, averaging 50.60, 60.55 and 45.38 respectively. But Marsh also impressed at three in Australia's previous World Cup triumph that included a match-winning hand of 77 not out in the final of the 2021 T20 global showpiece to guide Australia to their maiden title in the shortest format.
"Clearly (Head) comes in at the top," Bailey said. "He's been fantastic there for us and that's where he'll slot in.
"And then we'll just work out (the rest based on) when it is, who we're playing, the surface and what you might need."
When Head returns it appears Marnus Labuschagne or allrounder Marcus Stoinis will be the most likely to make way from the XI, with Stoinis' timely game-changing spell of 2-40 against Pakistan certainly working in his favour and proving just how valuable an asset he can be at No.7.
"(He gives captain) Pat (Cummins) the flexibility to chop and change depending on what he might need," Bailey said. "We didn't use Mitch (Marsh) tonight but there's another option as well.
"'Stoin' bought a really great energy with his bowling and couple of really key breakthroughs to get everyone up and going, and a nice catch as well."
Australia have risen to fourth in the tournament standings after beating Pakistan in Bengaluru and next face the Dutch in Delhi on Wednesday (7.30pm AEDT).
"Already we've seen this tournament anyone can beat anyone on any given day," Bailey said.
"A lot of the teams that you don't play as often or haven't played for a while, it probably just makes you focus a little bit more on what you want to do as a team and just focus internally on making sure you do that really well."
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Beat Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Defeated Pakistan by 62 runs
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
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
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points