World Cup: Spinner Zampa an opening option for Australia, claims Finch

Australia captain Aaron Finch was impressed by South Africa's decision to open the bowling with leg-spinner Imran Tahir.

Published : May 31, 2019 17:54 IST

Aaron Finch has suggested he may follow South Africa's example by mixing up his bowling attack for Australia's opening Cricket World Cup fixture against Afghanistan.

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis elected to open the bowling with leg-spinner  Imran Tahir against England at The Oval on Thursday, and was rewarded for that decision when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed for a golden duck from the second ball.

Tournament favourite England ultimately cruised to a 104-run victory, but Finch has acknowledged Du Plessis' call has given him food for thought.

Australia has already experimented with bringing spinner Adam Zampa in early, and Finch is open to the idea of the 27-year-old replacing one of Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins - the likely opening pair - if the conditions suit.

"Absolutely. We've got a lot of great options. If there's two lefties in, we've got Maxi [Glenn Maxwell] and some great new-ball, fast bowlers.

"But Zamps, he's done it in the Big Bash quite a bit and T20s, he hasn't done it for Australia as much but he did a great job the other day.

"He bowls stump to stump which is a huge advantage for a leg spinner. Tahir was great first up as well. It took me by surprise watching it."

Defending world champion Australia starts its campaign at Bristol's County Ground on Saturday, though it is unclear if David Warner - who along with ex-captain Steve Smith has returned to the fold following suspensions for ball-tampering - will be fit to feature, with coach Justin Langer having confirmed on Thursday that the batsman was struggling with a glute injury.

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