May 26 (CRICKETNMORE) - Usman Khawaja admits claiming the scalp of the world’s No.1 side on the eve of the World Cup is a real confidence booster for Australia. Australia downed England by 12 runs on Saturday at the Hampshire Bowl in their first official warm-up game for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That was England’s first ODI defeat of the summer after completing a 4-0 whitewash of Pakistan earlier this month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
And Australia, the defending world champions in this format, appear to be hitting top form at just the right time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“It is always nice to win, no matter what game you play. Especially against England being the world No.1 side,” said Khawaja <\/p>\r\n\r\n
“They had a couple of players out today obviously but they are still a very strong team and world No.1 for a reason.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“It is a good confidence booster for us. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
“We are doing a lot of things right, this is a long tournament so hopefully we can keep doing it for as long as possible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“We have been playing some really good cricket over the last two or three months in one day cricket and I think the momentum has turned.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n
This time last year Australia were handed a 5-0 ODI series whitewash in England.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But of late they have turned the corner with series wins in both India and Pakistan already secured this year. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
“We have been training really hard and doing all the right things behind the scenes for a while now,” added Khawaja.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“We should have beaten India that first series at home, we got really close so we knew we were headed the right way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“Sometimes you need to get results to show people and I guess to show ourselves. Winning that series in India was massive, we got that winning feeling again and got the habit.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The key to the win on Saturday was the returning Steve Smith’s consummate century from No.4.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Khawaja came in at No.5 and made 31 but has spent the majority of his time in this ODI side opening or batting at No.3<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Khawaja doesn’t mind where he bats, particularly with Smith and David Warner back and in form.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“Smithy today batted beautifully today and set that game up for us,” added Khawaja.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“It’s tough to be better than he was, but look he has been playing beautifully, so consistent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“Yes they have been warm-up games, but he has been hungry for runs like the Steve Smith we have always known and it’s great to see him out there scoring runs. He is a great guy to have around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“I don’t know where I am going to bat. I think we are pretty good in that regard, we have shuffled around a fair bit. I came in a lot lower than I usually do today. But all the guys are good at adapting to one day cricket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
“Which is one of our strengths. I am sure they will figure that out sooner rather than later. There is one more game and then the first game. All the guys are in a really good spot to be honest. The batsmen are scoring runs, the bowlers are bowling beautifully, you cannot ask for much more.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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