World Cup 2019: Steve Waugh believes Aaron Finch has been the best batsman of the tournament

What’s the story?

Former Australian World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh has picked Aaron Finch as the best batsman of the tournament so far. He has also picked Australia, India, England and New Zelaed as the favourites to qualify for the semifinals.

In case you didn’t know...

The current edition of the World Cup has been dominated by batsmen. Joe Root, Shakib Al Hasan and Rohit Sharma have all scored more than one century in the tournament. It has turned out be a high scoring World Cup as expected.

The Australian batsmen have also been among the runs, with Finch and David Warner leading the way.

The heart of the matter

Despite some great performances by players from other teams, Waugh believes Finch has been the best batsman on show in the tournament so far.

The Australian captain has been in the form of his life since the bilateral ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE. The right-hander has scored three centuries in his last 10 ODI innings including the mammoth century against Sri Lanka in the most recent league match at The Oval on Saturday. During that innings he also recorded the highest ever individual score by an Australian captain in World Cup history.

Speaking to the ICC, Waugh said, “He (Finch) has remained calm and composed off the field in dealing with the media and has unquestionably been the premier batsman of the tournament.”

He also predicted the four teams who are likely to feature in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals.

“Whilst Sri Lanka didn’t really threaten Australia with perhaps the exception of their first 15 overs of batting it was another positive step for a team that seems destined to be joined in the semis with England, New Zealand and India."

What’s next?

Australia will take on Bangladesh in their next league game at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Thursday. Bangladesh will be high on confidence after they chased down the second highest ever score in World Cup history against West Indies, so Finch will have to live up to Waugh's praise and produce his best if Australia hope to record another win.

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