Recovery by Finn is boost for England tour hopes

Finn, having come through two Twenty20 games for England Lions against Pakistan, swapped Dubai for Potchefstroom but will not be considered for today’s three-day warm-up against a South Africa Invitational XI.

He has been recovering from a bone stress injury to his left foot, suffered prior to the Pakistan series in October, and remains an outside bet to be deemed Test ready for the series opener on Boxing Day.

Nevertheless, the mere presence of the 6ft 7in paceman, owner of 26 Test caps and 102 wickets, will add to the internal competition in a squad.

Captain Alastair Cook has admitted places are up for grabs on this trip and Finn’s call-up will put Mark Footitt, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan – who are currently vying for one spot in the attack – on alert.

Finn’s first task will be proving his fitness but he is optimistic about his conditioning after taking four wickets in his two outings in Dubai. “I’ve been really pleased with the way things have gone with the Lions. I’ve bowled my overs and my foot has come through fine.”

New Zealand bowled out Sri Lanka for 282 to win the first Test by 122 runs in Dunedin.

Sri Lanka resumed on 109-3, needing a further 296 to win or more realistically to bat all day without losing their remaining seven wickets for a draw.

The lesser goal still proved comfortably beyond them as they subsided midway through the afternoon session, Tim Southee finishing with three wickets and six in the match.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said: “We had to work pretty hard to get the 20 wickets. It’s a very professional performance.”

Martin Guptill was named man of the match after his 156 in New Zealand’s first innings.