Pace bowler Steven Finn insists England can win the final Test against South Africa to draw the series and save their number one ranking.
Set a target of 346, which would be England’s highest successful run chase, the home side
lost openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss
late on the fourth day at Lord’s to close on 16-2.
“Over a number of years, we’ve enjoyed breaking records and defying beliefs,” said Finn, who took 4-75 to help bowl South Africa out for 351 and give him eight wickets in the match.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to assert ourselves on South Africa on the fifth morning and we really do believe we can win this game.”
Lords of the manor
England have not lost at Lord’s since the 2005 Ashes against Australia, a sequence of 13 Tests
Cook and Strauss fell lbw to Vernon Philander in the final session on Sunday, leaving Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell to see England to the close without further loss.
On a pitch that has shown little sign of deteriorating, Finn says it is vital the hosts build partnerships on the final day.
“We’ll be dealing with a ball that is 15 overs old and the two guys that are in have performed fantastically well for England for a long time,” he said.
“Later in the day we could have batsmen well set against a tired attack with an older ball.
“We have that belief in the dressing room and it’s up to the batsmen to knuckle down.”
Anything but victory would see England lose their
to South Africa, but Finn believes saving
the series
is more important.
England v South Africa
19-23 July:
First Test, The Oval – South Africa won by an innings and 12 runs
2-6 August:
Second Test, Headingley – Draw
16-20 August:
Third Test, Lord’s
“The status obviously means a lot to us, but it’s not what we’re playing for tomorrow,” said the 23-year-old.
“We’re playing to level a series against a team that have played good cricket against us. We want to win tomorrow and we believe we can.”
Hashim Amla made 121 – he was bowled by Finn during a spell of 3-14 in five overs – to complement the
triple century he scored in the first Test
at The Oval.
He said: “We managed to get two big wickets this evening and that’s put us in a really good position.
“But we understand that it’s going to take a lot of hard work because it’s still a decent wicket to bat on.”
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