• England v South Africa, 3rd Test, Lord's

Finn: England not distracted by KP saga

ESPN staff
August 17, 2012
Steven Finn took three wickets on the opening day at Lord's © Getty Images
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Steven Finn insists England were not distracted by Kevin Pietersen's wrangles with the ECB as they made a bright start to the defence of their No. 1 Test status.

Much of the build-up to the final Test at Lord's - which England must win to retain their top ranking - was overshadowed by Pietersen, whose international future remains uncertain after he admitted sending 'provocative' text messages to members of the South Africa team.

Finn, who took three wickets in seven balls as England reduced the tourists to 54 for 4, before they reached 262 for 7 at stumps, says the furore surrounding Pietersen has not affected their approach to the match.

"What's happened hasn't affected the way we've approached this game," Finn said. "I thought we were great as a team out there today, as 11 people out there on the pitch.

"Whenever we go and bowl, regardless of what's happening elsewhere, we always want to do what we do well. Even if what happened in the last week hadn't happened, we'd still have gone out there and had the same intentions."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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