Aaron Finch believes fierce competition for World Cup berths is helping Australia as they seek to complete a series win over South Africa in Melbourne on Friday.
Finch on Wednesday blasted his fifth one-day international (ODI) century, piloting Australia to a 73-run victory over the Proteas in Canberra.
It gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the five-game series, but also raised further questions about the make-up of their first-choice XI for the World Cup.
Steve Smith, left on the sidelines in last week’s series opener, was man of the match.
Glenn Maxwell was omitted, while left-armer Mitchell Starc excelled in the absence of Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
“It’s a real positive when you have guys challenging for spots, because it’s driving you to perform well,” Finch said.
“If you don’t perform, you’re sitting on the pine.
“Nobody is safe in the side except the skipper (George Bailey).
“When you’ve got that kind of competition in the side, it’s really quality.”
Despite coveted places in Australia’s squad for the one-day tournament being up for grabs, Finch suggested there wasn’t a skerrick of selfish cricket to be seen.
“The guys are still helping each other out,” he said.
“There’s none of this `I’m trying to look after my own spot’.
“It’s about helping the team win games of cricket.”
Australia will seek to do that at the MCG on Friday, with Finch adding it was important his side back up their good performance at Manuka Oval.
“We had a great first ODI, then a very poor one. Then we’ve had a great one again,” Finch said.
“Consistency is what we’re about and that’s what we’re really striving for, moving into an ODI World Cup in the next couple of months.”
Starc cleaned up the tail on Wednesday, while Josh Hazlewood and Kane Richardson were also among the wickets.
One of those pacemen is expected to make way for Pat Cummins on Friday.
But they’ve already made an impression on South Africa captain AB de Villiers.
“An inexperienced bowling attack when it comes to playing for Australia, but they’re all really seasoned campaigners,” de Villiers said.
“They all performed pretty well.”
Finch agreed.
“When it’s reversing like that and you’ve got guys bowling quick, it’s always tough,” he said.
FULL SCOREBOARD
Australia Innings Mins Balls 4s 6s
A FINCH b de Villiers 109 165 127 9 3
D WARNER c de Villiers b Philander 53 87 50 6 2
S WATSON c Miller b Behardien 40 43 38 4 1
S SMITH not out 73 80 55 8 0
G BAILEY c du Plessis b Morkel 12 18 15 0 0
M MARSH c de Villiers b Morkel 22 15 13 2 0
M WADE not out 8 13 6 0 0
Sundries (1lb 7w 4nb) 12
Five wickets for 329
Fall: 118 (Warner), 189 (Watson), 242 (Finch), 264 (Bailey), 295 (Marsh).
Bowling: M Morkel 10-0-84-2 (5w 2nb), V Philander 10-0-70-1 (1w 2nb), D Steyn 10-0-53-0 (1w), F Behardien 8-0-39-1, I Tahir 6-0-40-0, AB de Villiers 6-0-42-1.
Batting time: 212 mins. Overs: 50.
South Africa Innings Mins Balls 4s 6s
H AMLA b Hazlewood 102 166 115 9 0
Q DE KOCK c Marsh b Hazlewood 47 75 53 4 1
F DU PLESSIS c Warner b Marsh 17 31 21 2 0
R ROSSOUW c Wade b Starc 2 6 5 0 0
AB de VILLIERS lbw Richardson 52 45 34 6 1
F BEHARDIEN c Finch b Hazlewood 12 36 12 2 0
D MILLER lbw Starc 3 7 6 0 0
V PHILANDER c Finch b Starc 1 11 12 0 0
D STEYN c Marsh b Starc 12 6 6 1 1
M MORKEL not out 0 5 4 0 0
I TAHIR (absent hurt) 0 0 0 0 0
Sundries (5lb 2w 1nb) 8
Nine wickets for 256
Fall: 108 (de Kock), 143 (du Plessis), 148 (Rossouw), 224 (de Villiers), 226 (Amla), 231 (Miller), 238 (Philander), 252 (Steyn), 256 (Behardien).
Bowling: M Starc 8-1-32-4 (1nb), J Hazlewood 9.3-0-51-3 (1w), S Watson 6-0-47-0, K Richardson 8-0-49-1, X Doherty 6-0-31-0, M Marsh 7-0-41-1 (1w).
Batting time: 199 mins. Overs: 44.3.
Umpires: Simon Fry (AUS), Nigel Llong (ENG).
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).
Third Umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL).
Result: Australia won by 73 runs
Man of the Match: Steve Smith
