South Africa vs England: 'Outstanding' Steven Finn ready to play 'huge part', says bowling coach Ottis Gibson

Fast bowler unlucky not to take more than two wickets on opening day of third Test

Steven Finn bowling on the first day of the 3rd Test against South Africa (Getty)

There were two outstanding moments on the opening day of the third Test here in Johannesburg. First, Steven Finn produced the ball of the series so far, and maybe the ball of the year, to remove Hashim Amla, who looked ominously as though he might be in the mood to gather another double hundred.

Second, Jonny Bairstow, much maligned, executed a magnificent run-out to leave South Africa in a worse position than they might have expected. If the match was still evenly poised – a quick finish to the innings will tilt it to England, another hundred runs to South Africa will send it the other way – these were the sort of interventions that England will need if they are to secure a series win here.

“I am very impressed with him,” said England’s bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, of Finn. “Since he has come back into the team he has proven himself to be an outstanding fast bowler. We missed him in Dubai when he got that injury but he has come back. Often there is a lot said about Broad and Anderson, who are quality bowlers, but Finn is a quality bowler too, and you can see him playing a huge part in the coming years.”

Finn was distinctly unlucky not to take more than two wickets. His spell in the afternoon was a model for a tall fast bowler who was extracting bounce from the surface at an awkward length. None of the opposing batsmen handled him with confidence and his dismissal of Amla, with a ball that pitched and moved disconcertingly away, was a beautifully controlled.

Bairstow has had plenty of criticism about his wicketkeeping which he has not always welcomed. If he makes an error he can often be seen beating the ground in fury. Apart from one bad dropped ball – it missed the edge by a whisker and there would have been hell to pay had it been touched – he was exemplary. He held on to the catches, one of them standing up, and if he was not invariably silken he did the job.

But the manner in which he ran out Temba Bavuma, dawdling for a single, was magnificent. He made ground and dealt with an errant throw with marvellous assurance before removing the bails.

“Jonny had a great day,” said Gibson. “The dressing room is buzzing for him at the moment because we see how hard he works and when he makes a mistake he takes it very hard for the team. But that run-out was unbelievable. The train of thought to have to run up to the stumps like that and then have the athleticism to take the bails off was outstanding. Hopefully he can have more good days.”

England seem to be trying to make light of the bug which affected perhaps half the team. Stuart Broad was probably the worst sufferer, which may have explained his slightly underpowered bowling. Gibson said: “There are some people under the weather but it’s something we’re trying hard not to dwell on. We don’t want to make an excuse. Some people aren’t 100 per cent but we forged on and had a pretty good day.”

South Africa could feel relieved by the end. At 225 for 7 they were in danger of folding but the sixth-wicket pair of Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada resisted ably.

Dean Elgar, who crafted a workmanlike 46, the day’s top score, said: “They’re a good bowling side, they threw everything at us. It is a good contest between bat and ball.”