Steven Finn back for England duty
The 4th test starts on Thursday and pace bowler Steven Finn is back for England duties after an injury to Liam Plunkett.
Yorkshireman Plunkett missed the 3rd Test at the Ageas Bowl after a left ankle problem suffered during the second Test of five at Lord’s, where England lost by 95 runs.
Plunkett definitely misses the action at Old Trafford, which gets going on Thursday morning, handing an international lifeline to Finn.
Finn failed to feature during the Ashes series in the winter and was sent back to county cricket to find his form and confidence, with the paceman having taken 44 wickets in County Championship division one so far this summer.
The 25-year-old has played in 23 Tests to date, taking 90 wickets at an average of 29.40, with his best figures 6/125 against Australia in Brisbane in November 2010.
His only previous Test outing against India came in Kolkata in December 2012, when he took four wickets as the tourists won by seven wickets.
Finn joins James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes among the pace options at the disposal of captain Alastair Cook for the action in Manchester.
Cook and his side go into the game buoyed by a 266-run victory in Southampton which levelled the series against India and ended a run of ten games without a win in the Test arena.
Captain Alastair Cook has urged his side to build on their excellent display in the third Test victory against India by going on to win the series.
England produced a near perfect performance to beat the tourists by 266 runs at Southampton and level the series up at 1-1, with next week’s fourth Test at Old Trafford already on the horizon.
The victory ended a run of ten successive Tests without a win for Cook’s side after India slumped to 178 all out when chasing an unlikely victory target of 445 with Moeen Ali taking a superb 6-67.
Now everyone knows what it’s like, the challenge is ‘can we repeat that at Old Trafford, and try to win the series?’
Alastair Cook
James Anderson was named man-of-the-match after taking 7-77 over the two India innings, while Cook returned to form with knocks of 95 and 70 not out. In addition, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance both made centuries.
Cook is refusing to get too carried away though, saying: “It’s a very small step. It’s only one win.
“We were relentless, we never let India off the hook at any stage. It takes a lot of skill and determination to do that. Now everyone knows what it’s like, the challenge is ‘can we repeat that at Old Trafford, and try to win the series?'”
Betting……
England can be backed at 6/4 to win the fourth Test and take a 2-1 series lead, with the draw 6/5 and an Indian victory 4/1.
You can back England at 11/10 to take the series or India at 11/4
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