Finch battling to be fit for Lanka T20

PERTH, Australia: Limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is battling to be fit for Australia’s opening Twenty20 against Sri Lanka after picking up a side strain.

The top-order batsman is sitting out Victoria’s ongoing Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia in a bid to be ready for the first of three games against the Sri Lankans in Adelaide on Sunday. “It started out as a little back niggle and it’s just a little tear in my side. So hopefully not too long. It’s been a week since I did it,” Finch told Perth radio 6PR at the weekend.

He said he hoped to play a One-Day game for his state on Wednesday but “if I can still feel it and it’s a little niggle there, I think the medical staff will probably take the conservative route”.

If fit, Finch is expected to open the Australian innings with David Warner. After Adelaide, Australia face the Lasith Malinga-led Sri Lankans in Brisbane and Melbourne before Pakistan arrive for T20s in Sydney, Canberra and Perth.