Mitchell Starc confident Australia are 'peaking at right time' at World Cup

Mitchell Starc believes Australia are “peaking at the right time” as they head into Thursday's World Cup semi-final clash with South Africa on the back of a seven-game winning streak.

Preparation for the 50-over competition did not exactly go to plan for the Baggy Greens who lost successive one-day series against the Proteas and India.

Pat Cummins's side then suffered defeats in their opening two games as they lost to tournament hosts India by six wickets before falling to a 134-run battering against South Africa.

But since then, the five-time winners have beaten Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to finish third in the group-stage table.

“It's been quite busy, the guys who were in Africa as well, I think we counted it's like our 15th flight since we've been in India,” Starc said on the gruelling schedule.

“For the guys who were in Africa as well, it's been a jam-packed 10 or 11 weeks. It's a World Cup, it's what we play for. We seem to be peaking at the right time, which Australia tend to do in tournament play.

“While we didn't start the way we wanted to, we've certainly had good contributions from individuals along the way and we find ourselves in another World Cup semi-final.”

Australia have been the most successful team in the World Cup with title wins in the 1987 (India), 1999 (England), 2003 (South Africa), 2007 (West Indies) and 2015 (Australia and New Zealand) editions.

They were runners-up in the inaugural edition in 1975 and then again in 1996, reached the quarter-finals in 2011 and lost to eventual winners England in the 2019 semi-finals.

Starc, who was part of Australia's 2015 ODI and 2021 T20 World Cup triumphs, said the experienced team will not be