Australia skipper Aaron Finch is hopeful of playing in Friday's (November 4) crucial Twenty20 World Cup Super 12 encounter against Afghanistan at the Adelaide Oval, despite sustaining a hamstring strain while playing Ireland on Tuesday.

Given that New Zealand, England and Australia are tied at five points after four games each, the net run rate is set to be a big factor in Group 1 for the qualification of the semi-finals.

New Zealand currently lead the group on that stat owing to their huge margin of victory in the opening match, while England have a significant but not insurmountable advantage over Australia in the net run rate column.

The defending champions need to win versus Afghanistan to stay alive in the tournament and Finch said he would not risk playing if he had any doubts about his fitness.

"Very hopeful to (play), yeah. I'll have a good hit out this afternoon and give it a solid test out," Finch told reporters on Thursday (November 3).

"(It's) maybe 70-30, but I'll test it out properly this afternoon to make sure that I'm not hindering the side at all ... because I think the worst possible scenario is that you leave the guys short out there with one player fewer."

Tim David also picked a hamstring issue in the game against Ireland and Finch provided an update on him.

"He's in exactly the same boat," the Australian captain added. "He'll get worked out today, and we'll know more during training, I guess, the likelihood of both of us playing, one of us, neither of us, whatever it looks like, but exactly the same."

Only two teams from the group will advance to the semi-finals. So, Australia need to beat Afghanistan and give their net run rate a healthy boost or be reliant on New Zealand or England suffering defeats to get them through.

While England are due to take on Sri Lanka in their last group match on Saturday (November 5), New Zealand face Ireland in Friday's opening game in Adelaide.

(With Reuters inputs)