Injured Finn likely to miss fourth South Africa test

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – England seamer Steven Finn appears likely to miss the fourth test against South Africa, which starts on Friday in Pretoria, because of a side strain, team officials confirmed on Monday.

Finn felt tightness in his left side during England’s series-clinching victory at the Wanderers and was sent for scans on Sunday, the day after England’s dramatic seven-wicket win put the tourists 2-0 ahead with one test to play.

However, head coach Trevor Bayliss remains pessimistic about his chances of playing in the final test, paving the way for Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan or Mark Footitt to vie for a starting role at Centurion as England target an emphatic 3-0 success.

“To be honest I doubt very much whether he’ll be available for the next test,” Bayliss told reporters. “We’ll have to wait and see how bad it is and make a decision on the one-day and Twenty20 series (following the tests).

“But at this stage it looks like we have to make a replacement there heading into the last test,” Bayliss added.

“That’s unfortunate because I thought he was probably our most dangerous bowler in the first two tests.” Woakes played in the first test in Durban when England’s record wicket-taker James Anderson sat out with a calf strain while Jordan and uncapped Footitt did not feature in any of the first three matches of the series.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by John O’Brien)