Australia captain Mitchell Marsh backed his side to deliver as they open their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on Wednesday, despite a difficult build-up to the tournament.

The defending champions arrive in Colombo after a 3-0 series loss in Pakistan. They are also without several key players due to injury.

Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will miss the opener. Steve Smith has also been left out, despite his strong recent form and success against spin.

With spin expected to dominate at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Marsh asked his batters to keep things simple and clear.

“We certainly want to be positive in the way we go about things,” Marsh said on the eve of the match.

“In these conditions, it’s about being really clear on how you’re going to play and responding to what’s in front of you.”

“Adaptability has been a big word in our meetings,” he added. “We need to adapt to the situation and get the job done.”

Marsh confirmed that Nathan Ellis has recovered from injury and is available for selection. Tim David, however, will miss the match against Ireland.

Australia will field a relatively inexperienced pace attack. Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis are both in the mix, with Dwarshuis drafted in as a late replacement for Cummins.

Despite the changes, Marsh expressed confidence in the squad.

“We’ve built a group of 18 to 20 players over the last year,” he said.

“They’ve all had game time and faced different situations. Even if some haven’t played much for Australia, they’ve played plenty of cricket. We trust them to do the job.”