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Australia's Langer says 'nothing dead' about South Africa World Cup match

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AFP Manchester
Last Updated : Jul 04 2019 | 9:10 PM IST

Australia may have already booked their place in the semi-finals of the World Cup ahead of Saturday's round-robin finale against South Africa but the match still matters to coach Justin Langer.

Victory over the Proteas at Old Trafford would ensure the defending champions remain top of the standings.

That would mean they stayed in Manchester for a semi-final on Tuesday which would almost certainly be against New Zealand -- a team Australia have already defeated during this tournament and the side they beat in the 2015 final.

Langer wants to maintain the feel-good factor in his squad, who have lost just one game out of eight, to India, who are challenging them for top spot in the 10-team group phase.

"It's about maintaining the momentum of winning," Australia coach Langer said at Old Trafford on Thursday.

"That's really important for us.

"For this game, some people said it was a dead rubber. There's nothing dead about it."
"Not with what's happened the last 12 months. We're playing good cricket, so we want to continue the momentum of winning going forward."
"We're here to take the two points, keep the winning momentum going forward and for those guys this is just another exciting game of World Cup cricket for them."

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First Published: Jul 04 2019 | 9:10 PM IST

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