We need to play at our best moving into the knockouts: Michael Clarke

Australia, with Clarke making a run-a–ball 47 after he promoted himself to open in order to have some batting practice, finished on 133 for three in just 15.2 overs.

“Our bowlers did a great job to bowl Scotland out, and our batters put the team first,” said Clarke.

“It’s always nice to win — I don’t think there’s any better preparation than winning.”

As for Australia’s chances of winning a fifth World Cup title and first on home soil, Clarke added: “Now it’s the knockout stages. We need to play at our best and I think if we do, we can win.”

For Scotland, their sixth straight loss of this tournament meant they’d now been beaten in all 14 of their World Cup matches, a run spanning three editions.

“We knew it was always going to be a tough game for us, and unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” said Scotland captain Preston Mommsen.

“We take a huge amount of positives from the past six games, and we leave the World Cup a better team.”

There was some consolation for the non-Test side in that Scotland seamer Josh Davey bowed out with an impressive 15 wickets at an average of just over 20 apiece.

“We’re very proud of Josh Davey — taking 15 wickets is an awesome achievement,” added Mommsen. “Our focus now turns to qualifying for the World T20.”