SCG wicket among Aussies' last hopes

A worn SCG wicket and a Sri Lanka team playing for pride loom as Australia's last hopes in the Twenty20 World Cup, with England set to deal with a spinning deck.

England's task of qualifying for the semi-finals ahead of Australia was made far easier on Friday night when the hosts could only scratch their way to a four-run win over Afghanistan.

It means that net run-rate is no longer a factor in England's bid to qualify ahead of Australia, with victory over Sri Lanka at the SCG on Saturday night enough to knock the defending champions out.

But Sydney's wicket could play into the hands of Sri Lanka - and in turn Australia.

The wicket is the same one used for last Saturday's game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, as well as South Africa v Pakistan on Thursday night.

That surface offered more for slower bowlers than the run-scoring paradises used earlier in the tournament on the SCG.

Sri Lanka also have an array of dangerous spinners who would benefit from bowling second, including Wanindu Hasaranga and Makheesh Theekshana. 

England have traditionally preferred to chase in T20 internationals, only electing to bat first in three of the last 37 times they have won the toss dating back to January 2017.

England opening batsman Alex Hales admits the wicket may change his side's plans.

"You probably have to ask the think tank of (skipper) Jos (Buttler) and Motty (coach Matthew Mott). They would probably know," Hales said on Friday.

"More often than not it is a decent pitch here. It can break up and spin. We'll know more over the next 24 hours."

Australia's failure to claim a sizeable win over Afghanistan has taken significant pressure off England, who spent Friday believing they would need a big victory of their own to stay ahead of the hosts.

Instead, a victory of any kind will now be enough.

It would also ensure a fourth straight semi-finals appearance for England in T20 or one-day World Cups, after leading the way in white-ball cricket for the past six years.

They will be desperate to add a second trophy to their cabinet for that period though, with their only success being the 50-over tournament at home in 2019.

"It would be pretty special ... to have a chance to play knockout cricket in a World Cup," Hales said. 

"It's a pretty tight competition, and to get through is difficult. Only two out of six teams go through.

"So you have to beat some very good teams along the way. It would be a good achievement if we can get through, in a pretty tough group in my opinion.

"We'll have to play some good cricket, and one more game and we'll be at that stage."