England pace bowler Finn helps his side draw against New Zealand after scoring a half century with the bat.
England managed to bat through the last day against New Zealand to secure what seemed like an unlikely draw. This great escape was helped strongly by a defiant peformance with the bat by Steven Finn.
The towering bowler was brought in as a nightwatchman at the end of day four but despite only facing one ball in that session, held his nerve on day five and eventually racked up 56 runs.
It was an impressive stand by Finn, whose four-and-a-half-hour stint at the crease was the longest ever by an England nightwatchman.
In an innings where England needed to preserve their wickets, Finn’s effort was a pleasant surprise for English fans, and along with centuries from Nick Compton and captain Alastair Cook, helped England edge towards a draw.
After Jonathan Trott also made a half-century, English batsmen Ian Bell and Matt Prior batted out the day to ensure their side avoided an opening Test defeat.
Cook’s side ended day five on 421-6, when New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum decided to shake Cook’s hand and end the match as a draw.
Kiwi bowler Nick Wagner finished the innings with figures of 3-141 and had the best bowling figures of the match with 7-183.
England will now go into the second Test on Wednesday with everything still square in the series, but the manner in which they played in their first innings in Dunedin will certainly worry Cook and the English coaching staff.
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