DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA // England must be patient on the last day of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead as they seek six more wickets for victory, fast bowler Steven Finn said.
Finn took three wickets to help reduce the hosts to 136 for four on the fourth day on Tuesday.
“If we come out either expecting to get wickets or trying too hard to get wickets, that will stand against us. If we are patient and let South Africa come to us, then we have a very good chance,” Finn said.
South Africa require a daunting 280 runs still to win with their hopes hinging on a talismanic performance from leading batsman AB de Villiers, who will resume on 37 not out.
“He [De Villiers] averages over 50 runs in Test cricket so he is a very important player for them, he’s one of the best in the world, but as long we get wickets, we don’t care which six we get,” Finn said.
“We are in a fantastic position to try and press for that victory tomorrow and I think the rewards we got today from a batting and bowling perspective were born through patience and hard work,” he added.
“We came out before tea and chased it a little bit and everyone, apart from Stuart Broad, was probably guilty of trying to make something happen, especially with the new ball, but I think we reset really well at tea, came out afterwards and stopped South Africa really going anywhere.”
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The performance of the 26-year-old fast bowler justified the decision to add him to the tour party after impressing for England Lions in two comeback appearances against Pakistan A in Dubai.
He was forced to pull out of England’s Test series against Pakistan in October after suffering a bone-stress injury in his left foot.
“It wasn’t ideal to go home from Dubai with that stress fracture but it gave me a chance to rest the rest of my body and even when I was injured I was confident I’d be fit enough to play in this test match,” Finn said. “There has been no pain or anything so I’m just trying to enjoy it and savour these great occasions.”
England snared openers Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl as well out-of-form captain Hashim Amla to give themselves a strong chance of winning the opening match of the four-Test series against the world’s top-ranked side.
They added a key wicket in the penultimate over to boost their hopes greatly when a rising delivery from Finn forced Faf du Plessis to edge a catch to Alastair Cook at slip after a stonewalling innings of nine off 66 balls.
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