Confidence peaking after beating England at Champions Trophy, Alex Carey says

There is nothing like a backs-to-the-wall, record-breaking victory over the old enemy to lift a team, and Alex Carey says the remarkable win over England in Lahore has turbo-charged belief within the Australian camp.

Steve Smith's squad went into the tournament with a stand-in captain, a second-string bowling attack and off the back of twin drubbings by Sri Lanka, who had not even qualified for the event.

Then came Saturday's epic victory in which Australia, having been in trouble at 4-136, chased down England's 8-351 with five wickets and 15 balls to spare.

Josh Inglis starred for Australia in the run chase against England. (Getty Images/ICC: Matthew Lewis)

"It's a great vibe around the group. I feel like our confidence is high and we're really excited for tomorrow," Carey said as Australia arrived in Rawalpindi for Tuesday's match with a formidable South African team.

"It was a fantastic game of cricket and even better for Australia to come out on top.

"For us to chip away at that total, we stayed pretty calm throughout the run chase. The dew started to come on to the ground, so the outfield got wetter as the game went on, which obviously suited us. But any time you're chasing 350 runs a lot has to go right.

"The top of the order with Matt Short and Marnus [Labuschagne] was really positive, the run-rate didn't get away from us.

"Then for Josh [Inglis] and myself to put together a partnership and continue to keep the run-rate at around seven or eight allowed for [Glenn] Maxwell to come in and do what he does best.

"If he's batting with only five or six overs to go, it means we're in a pretty good position.

"We probably don't want to chase 350 too many more times, but our bowlers will learn a lot from that hit-out."

Carey admitted Australia came to the tournament with an inexperienced bowling attack.

"There's no hiding away from that," he said.

"We've got some experience with Adam Zampa, we've got Glenn Maxwell who's really smart with how he bowls, and we've got Steve Smith, who's a fantastic captain tactically and he reads the play really well. The way he uses the bowlers is a strength of ours.

"If we are to bat first I'll back our boys to defend hopefully a good score of 300-plus, but if not, Nathan Ellis has got a lot of tricks, got a lot of good slow balls, Spencer Johnson's really damaging up the top, there's a left-arm seamer in Ben Dwarshuis, and you've got Sean Abbott ready to go as well."

Glenn Maxwell was Australia's closer again against England. (Getty Images/ICC: Matthew Lewis)

Carey said the Australians had a healthy respect for South Africa, who thrashed Afghanistan by 107 runs to open its campaign.

However, he said the Aussies have a lot of confidence heading into Tuesday's clash in Rawalpindi.

"We have played them quite a bit in the last 12 to 24 months in one-day cricket,'' Carey said.

"They're pretty strong across the board, but for us it's a great opportunity coming off the back of a great game against England, to play with a lot of freedom, take the game on."

Victory in Rawalpindi would put Australia on the brink of a semi-final place, whereas defeat would likely mean it would need to beat Afghanistan in Lahore on Friday.

AAP

Click here to read article