STEVEN FINN DESERVES A CHANCE-GEOFFREY BOYCOTT

Geoffrey Boycott believes it is time for Steven Finn to be given a run in the England team even though that could mean fellow Yorkshireman, Tim Bresnan, missing out on playing on his home ground in the second Test against South Africa at Headingley.

England's bowling attack flopped in their innings-and-12-run defeat to South Africa at The Oval, as the visitors piled up 637 for 2, and Boycott told ESPNcricinfo he feels changes need to be made.

After making his debut in 2010 against Bangladesh, Finn played 11 consecutive Tests before being dropped for Bresnan in Melbourne. Boycott believes it is now time to reverse that selection and for Finn to be given another run of games.

"Finn will be in the squad for Headingley and he deserves to have a run in the side," Boycott said. "He's been carrying the drinks for far too long. He's been playing well for his county and we need to find out if he can play well at Test level."

Finn has been in contention for selection in every Test since being left out for the fourth Ashes Test but has only played three more times - once in series home and away against Sri Lanka, and against West Indies at Edgbaston when James Anderson and Stuart Broad were rested.

Finn has been in fine form for Middlesex this season, taking 22 first-class wickets at 20.04 and was also a key part of England's ODI attack that beat Australia 4-0; Finn claimed eight wickets at 19.37.

Bresnan's place in the side has been much debated with his batting ability seen as the justification for his selection. He averages 39.00 from his 15 Tests and scored a best of 91 against India last year. With the ball he has claimed 56 wickets at 28.12 and took eight wickets at Trent Bridge against West Indies in May. Despite his record, and the fact that until The Oval defeat, England had won all but one of the Tests Bresnan had played in, Boycott feels Finn deserves a run in the side.

"You have to find out if he can play well at Test level and you don't get that by dropping somebody after one or two Tests," Boycott said. "Eoin Morgan got a good chance and now Finn has to have a proper chance."

Through the same reasoning, Boycott feels Ravi Bopara is the man to occupy England's other debated position - the No. 6 slot. Bopara was in line for a recall against Sri Lanka in April and West Indies in May but injuries on both occasions meant he was left out. He finally returned to the Test XI at The Oval but made 0 and 22, being dismissed with poor strokes in both innings.

"Bopara is the right man to play," Boycott said. "Whether he's good enough is a different matter, but he has to have a proper go."

SOUTH AFRICA TRASH ENGLAND IN FIRST TEST AT OVAL

 South Africa, dominant since the start of the second day, secured an innings and 12-run victory at The Oval as they broke the back of some stubborn England resistance either side of the new ball on the final afternoon. Ian Bell and Matt Prior had given the home side hope, but Imran Tahir broke the stand and Dale Steyn then steamed in to finish with 5 for 56.

The result was nothing less than South Africa deserved for a performance that confirmed what a formidable team they are and they achieved it on a ground where they had not won in 13 previous attempts. Indifferent on the first day, they barely put a foot wrong from the moment they rattled England on Friday morning. Showing the benefit of a finely balanced attack including pace, swing, seam, accuracy and spin, they did not fret when resistance was being put up.

It was England's first home defeat since losing to Pakistan, on the same ground, in 2010 and their first innings loss since facing South Africa, at Johannesburg, earlier that same year. For South Africa, it continues their run of taking the series lead each time in England since readmission although it is the first time they have won the opening Test since 1994.

As in England's first innings, when Kevin Pietersen was dismissed, it was wicket moments before the second new ball that undid much of the good work. Prior, having shown impressive judgement, swept Tahir who was bowling around the wicket into the rough and a top edge went to Jacques Kallis at slip. The sweep, which caused England so many problems in the UAE and in Galle, was back to haunt them.

Bell, having reached his slowest Test fifty and resisted for 220 deliveries, then played his worst shot for some time when he guided the ball straight to Kallis at second slip as though giving morning catching practice. As in Cape Town in 2010 it was another defiant display from Bell but the weakness of the shot that ended his stay was symptomatic of why England came off second best. You cannot let down your guard for a moment against this South Africa team.

A tail, even with England's pedigree, against a new ball is gift-wrapped for a pumped-up Steyn and it did not take him long. Stuart Broad was given out through the DRS to a glove down the leg side and Graeme Swann drove to cover. Tim Bresnan and James Anderson resisted for 10 overs, delayed tea, and threatened to make South Africa bat again, but Tahir ended the match with a grubber to trap Anderson lbw.

Although England had hope shortly after lunch, the major damage had been done the previous evening with the loss of four top-order wickets. Bell and Ravi Bopara resumed with the deficit still 150 and the odds stacked against them.

Initially Bopara suggested solidity with a tight defence and a couple of confident shots into the leg side, although he came within a millimetre of losing his off stump when he left a delivery from Steyn which shaped back. Then, in Steyn's next, his eyes lit up at the offer of some width but instead of the ball finding the cover boundary it took a bottom edge into middle stump. The days between this Test and Headingley will be filled with further debate over his Test place.

After the early spells from the quicks, Tahir, who created plenty of problems on the fourth evening especially for Andrew Strauss, was introduced and should have removed Bell for 20 in his first over but AB de Villiers could not take a regulation outside edge. It was de Villiers' first mistake of the match and ultimately would not prove costly.

For the second time in the match, Prior and Bell were nearly involved in a run out when Prior played a ball square to cover and Bell was a little slow responding for the run, but de Villiers could not quite gather JP Duminy's throw. When Bell elegantly drove the last ball of the session down the ground there was just a thought that a Cardiff-style escape was within England's grasp. South Africa soon dashed that notion

INJURED KULASEKARA REPLACED BY NUWAN PRADEEP

 Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep has been called up to the Sri Lanka squad for the remainder of the one-day series against India, in place of the injured Nuwan Kulasekara. Pradeep has played three Tests, but is yet to debut in ODIs.

Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, Ashantha de Mel, said that Pradeep will join the team on Monday, after returning from Zimbabwe, where he had played in the tri-series involving Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe's A teams. Pradeep had picked up three wickets in two matches in the tournament.

Pradeep debuted in Tests in October 2011, against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and was originally part of Sri Lanka squad that toured South Africa following that. However, he injured himself in a warm-up game in South Africa and was out of action for three months. He returned to first-class cricket in March, and was picked for the home series against Pakistan.

Kulasekara had strained his groin while attempting a catch in the first one-dayer against India on Saturday. After the incident, he could not complete his quota of overs and came out to bat only at No. 11 with India in control of the match.

The second one-dayer will be played in Hambantota on Tuesday

WIND FACTOR AT HAMBANTOTA STADIUM

Windy Wellington has competition, from howling Hambantota. The ground here is surrounded by miles of forest and when the wind blows, it really does, from roughly west to east and right across the square. It nearly blows you off your feet; the low stands and grass banks are no barriers at all. The wind is supreme through the day but stops at night, creating different challenges for the batting and fielding sides during the first innings.

Batsmen have to be careful the strong breeze doesn't throw them off their stance, as Virender Sehwag said today. That is not their biggest worry, though. "You have to be careful when playing your shots against the wind or with the wind," Sehwag said. "But we have played in Dambulla and in Wellington, now we are used to the wind."

Batsmen, however, have to worry only about themselves; the fielding captain has others to think about. The ball travels quicker through one side of the field; on the other side, top edges might seem to be carrying to deep fielders, before dropping short. Mahela Jayawardene had experienced the problem when India batted first on Saturday.

"When we were fielding, the challenge for us was the wind," Jayawardene said. "It was quite windy [so it was difficult] for the bowlers as well as some of the guys [who] were off balance. Then, you have to protect one side of the ground better than the other side. This venue is throwing up a lot of different challenges. You need to adapt to it."

The wind stops at night, and that presents different issues to the side defending a total. "One thing we observed [was] the ball was travelling quicker than the day at night," Virat Kohli said after the first game. "[It] surely made a difference. The ball was running off the bat and it is important to assess what we did in the field.

"I think we made a few mistakes, understandably, because we haven't played on this ground before and to get the pace of the ground you probably need a game. Hopefully we can correct those mistakes and put in a good fielding effort in the next game."

Both sides dropped catches and fumbled in the field during the first game. Who will harness the wind better tomorrow?

CHRIS GAYLE RETURNS TO TEST SQUAD

Chris Gayle is set to play his first Test in more than 18 months after being named in the West Indies squad for the first Test against New Zealand. Gayle has not played Test cricket since the tour of Sri Lanka in December 2010, and he will provide a major boost to the West Indies batting line-up, which has also regained Shivnarine Chanderpaul after he missed the final Test against England due to a side strain.

The 13-man squad does not include the batsmanDarren Bravo, who is West Indies' second leading run scorer in Tests in the past year. Bravo, who has not managed a half-century in his past five Tests and scored his most recent fifty in the first innings of the first Test against Australia in April, is still recovering from a groin strain* sustained during the England tour.

The top-order batsman Assad Fudadin was included after making his Test debut in the final match of the England tour. Sunil Narine was the only specialist spinner named in the squad and there was no room for the fast man Fidel Edwards, who was part of the Test side during the tour of England.

The first Test against New Zealand begins in Antigua on Wednesday, before the sides move on to Jamaica for the second and final Test.

West Indies squad Chris Gayle,Adrian Barath,Kieran Powell, Assad Fudadin, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Tino Best, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine.

TEAM INDIA FINED FOR SLOW OVER RATE

MS Dhoni and India have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their win in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Hambantota. Dhoni has been fined 20% of his match fee, and the rest of his team 10%, after they were ruled to be an over short when time allowances were taken into consideration.

Dhoni has got into trouble for over-rate breaches in the past. In January this year, he was suspendedfrom the Adelaide Test against Australia due a slow over-rate in the previous Test in Perth. Dhoni had also been on notice after India were found short in Barbados in June-July last year. His woes, aside from the team's poor form in Australia, didn't end there. He was again suspended in February, this time for an ODI, after India fell short by two overs in a game against Australia in the CB series.

The fine was imposed after a full disciplinary hearing with the match-referee Chris Broad.

Following a groin injury to Nuwan Kulasekara - who was ruled out of the series after yesterday's game - during the Indian innings, it was unclear for a while if he'd come out to bat during Sri Lanka's chase. Sri Lanka lost their ninth wicket in the 49th over of the chase, and Kulasekara then walked in at No.11 - though part of the lower order, Kulasekara, when fit, batted much higher. Sri Lanka batted out the remainder of the innings with Lasith Malinga blasting 19 off 10 deliveries, 16 of them in the final over from Umesh Yadav.

KOLHI THE MR CONSISTENT OF TEAM INDIA

 Virat Kohli, 23, now has 12 ODI hundreds. When combined, the two numbers are almost scary. Consistency is one thing, but four hundreds in five innings? Contrast them with some of his peers, and they appear even more astonishing. We still talk of Rohit Sharma's potential. Ajinkya Rahane still waits mostly on the sidelines. Cheteshwar Pujara remains injured more often than not. But Kohli continues to pile on the hundreds. He now has seven after the World Cup win alone; against seven teams, in five countries.

The ones in Hobart, against Sri Lanka, and in Dhaka, against Pakistan, have to be, arguably, among the best ODI innings of all time. He still has a long way to go in Tests, but Kohli now owns the ODI format. He's mastered the art of building an ODI innings. Whether it is batting first or chasing, coming in early or in the middle, he instinctively knows when to go after the bowling, when to rotate the strike, or when to defend. And whatever be the situation, whatever is the demand, he appears to be in control. Saturday's first-innings century against Sri Lanka in Hambantota was another such effort.

Gautam Gambhir had fallen in the third over. Virender Sehwag was looking rusty. Kohli settled in immediately, and suddenly, the innings gained traction. He left his first ball alone, defended the second, and thrashed the third for a boundary past point.

Kohli likes to get forward. It is not an exaggerated step down the track, but it gives him many more options with his strokes, especially on the subcontinent. He can whip-drive a delivery through extra cover, he can swat-flick the same ball through midwicket. It also enables him to defend solidly. One such defensive forward push even brought him three runs past extra cover early in his innings.

A measure of calmness having been restored after Gambhir's wicket, Kohli let Sehwag take over to do what only he can - hit outrageous boundaries. Throughout their 173-run partnership, Kohli let Sehwag be the leader, while he followed not very far behind. There were glimpses of their mammoth double-century standfrom the opening game of the World Cup, but in that match, Kohli had come in at 152 for 2, with Sehwag already in top gear. This time, it was a different situation, and Kohli spoke about adapting to it.

"This is something that I have tried to learn over a period of time that you need to see how the situation is going, how the other partner is batting," Kohli said. "When I went in Gauti bhai [Gambhir] had just got out and I decided to be a bit more positive because looking at my stats in the previous matches that I have played in Sri Lanka I had played too many dot balls. I had a positive mindset today - just go out there, just hit the boundary balls and make sure I execute them well.

"My role in the team has been of a sheet anchor. Initially I struck a few fours and after that I sort of took over my role when Viru bhai [Sehwag] started hitting the ball beautifully. When he plays like that you don't really need to do much so my job was left to just rotate the strike and take the singles and doubles and hit the odd boundary in between. When he got out I took over. I became more aggressive; it is all about adapting to different situations and seeing how the other guy is playing. If your partner is scoring well and being aggressive then you can get into your role and try and play till the 40th over so that the team can benefit from it."

Kohli did exactly that. He got out to the last ball of the 40th over, but not before a series of inside-out lofts, swat-flicks, dabs and slashes had ensured India did not get bogged down after the successive wickets of Sehwag and Rohit.

Kohli now has three successive hundreds against Sri Lanka. At some stage, it must start to feel all too easy when you dominate a particular opposition so much. Kohli doesn't think so. "The situations can be very different. You can take that as a positive but coming into this innings, I didn't have the best of IPL seasons and I just wanted to forget it. I am lucky I got a break in between and at times you regroup and comeback and just mentally be more relaxed and be calmer.

"If you have done well against an opposition you can take that as a confidence booster but at the same time you have to work hard and prepare your game before the match. Coming into this game I think it was really important how my mindset is going to be in this season. This season is really important for the team so I really put in a conscious effort to stay as relaxed and as calm as before the match and it really paid off. I was able to stay in that zone, stay in that calm place and when I went out there I was pretty relaxed compared to the previous games I have played in the IPL.