Eoin Morgan believes England are back to their old selves and ready to deliver their best cricket under high‑stakes pressure as they bid to join New Zealand in the World Cup final at Lord’s on Sunday.

Four became three on Wednesday when Kane Williamson’s side edged the first semi-final with India by 18 runs at Old Trafford – a nail-biting two‑day affair that was not settled until Martin Guptill’s superb throw ran out MS Dhoni in the 48th over.

The surprise result has further upped the ante for the second semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday, as England aim to topple the five-times champions Australia and demonstrate the 64-run defeat against them a fortnight ago was an aberration.

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“It just feels like we are back to the team we are,” said Morgan, whose players responded to the Lord’s defeat – and that against Sri Lanka before it – by sealing their place in the knockout stages with convincing wins against India and New Zealand.

“I think we are probably more confident than we were three games ago – a different team. We managed to produce something similar to the cricket we have been playing over the last four years and that was really encouraging.”

Morgan, expected to name an unchanged XI, was also keen to put the size of the opportunity to one side, insisting his players will have no regrets provided they stick to the strengths that propelled them to No 1 in the world.

“The level of expectation in the team is to go and justify how we play,” he said. “If that means getting knocked out or winning the next game or winning the World Cup, I think the guys will be happy. If we don’t justify ourselves and give it everything we have done, the guys will be disappointed.”

For Morgan this means overcoming the threat of Mitchell Starc, with the World Cup’s leading wicket-taker having hurried him during the one‑sided game at Lord’s, prompting Kevin Pietersen to question whether the England captain was “scared”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Handscomb will make his first World Cup appearance in the middle order on Thursday. Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

Like Jonny Bairstow, whose recent consecutive centuries followed a public spat with Michael Vaughan, Morgan looked to play down the thoughts of former players and offered a reminder of the fast bowling firepower in his own attack. He told BBC Sport: “When Kevin Pietersen comes out with a comment, it’s very similar to comments I address from Geoffrey Boycott. They are not ones that are considered good for a team environment and don’t take the best interests of the team or the player at heart.

“Guys are trying their heart out for their country, trying to learn, trying to get better. We have critics being critics. They need to do that, that’s their job, so let them be.”

When the threat of Starc’s pace and toe-crunching yorkers were put to Morgan, he simply replied: “Yes, like Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. We are not overtargeting or overanalysing anybody.”

While England have spent four years planning for this moment, Morgan’s opposite number, Aaron Finch, and coach Justin Langer have had to hastily rebuild Australia’s one‑day team following the ball-tampering scandal that led to David Warner and Steve Smith being banned for a year.

Finch said: “We don’t have any extra motivation because of redemption. I think that’s up to the individuals to tell those stories once the tournament is over.”

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Australia have already guaranteed Peter Handscomb his first World Cup appearance in the middle order following Usman Khawaja’s torn hamstring but there have been suggestions Glenn Maxwell, their unpredictable hitter, could be replaced by another newcomer in Matthew Wade.

Finch appeared to back Maxwell for another chance after a top score of 46 not out from nine innings – “runs are around the corner for him” – and on a pitch expected to favour the batsmen, highlighted the clutch moments as being key. “England have been the frontrunners in world cricket over the last four years, the way they have changed the game. Their game plan has been very aggressive, taking it to the opposition.

“We know how they are going to play, they know how we are going to play. So it will be whoever holds their nerve, whoever takes those half chances, whoever starts off the game really well in the first 10 overs, whether it is with bat or ball.”