More twists and turns

The 4th Test between South Africa and England remains in the balance after an unbeaten Marcus Trescothick century leaves England 189 ahead with 5 wickets left.

The day had started superbly for them, as Matthew Hoggard picked up Shaun Pollock with the 2nd ball of the day, a richly deserved 5th wicket for the unsung member of the attack.

He should have made it a 6th wicket just moments later, a straight forward catch to Geraint Jones being put down - the latest in a series that the Kent man will wish to forget.

With Steve Harmison off the field injured (although given his bowling thus far it wasn't the worst place he could've been) and Ashley Giles also being far from fully fit, the attack was depleted, and although Andrew Flintoff continued to try hard in spite of the problems he had before the game, England couldn't dislodge Herschelle Gibbs, and with James Anderson having looked woefully out-of-form on Saturday, Michael Vaughan actually asked Trescothick to bowl before turning to the Lancashre seamer.

Amazingly, Anderson struck with his 5th ball, Gibbs holing out in the deep for a splendid 8-hour 161 that had anchored his side's reply to within range of England's 411.

That they passed that score was due to another great knock from Nico Boje, although the let-off afforded him by Jones' early drop was critical in his 48 before a stupid run out.

Hoggard's throw to the bowlers end saw Makhaya Ntini well out of his crease, but the alert Giles smartly declined to break the wickets, preferring to throw to the strikers end to remove Boje instead. The left arm spinner had batted for 2 hours, the last hour of which he had shared with Ntini - who then opened out to hit his side into an 8 run lead (although again he was aided by Anderson's bowling) before Giles bowled him to end the innings.

That meant England had to negotiate 2 overs before lunch, but the in-form Andrew Strauss faced just 4 balls before a loose shot gave a simple catch to slip off Ntini's first ball - a disasterous start, but England's response was positive as Robert Key and Trescothick took the attack to Ntini and Pollock in racing to 51 in the 10th over before Key edged one to Jacques Kallis to bring in Vaughan.

After his superb unbeaten 82, the captain was in form, and he showed it again here, as he resumed his partnership with Trescothick to great effect. The former opening pair combined to add a crucial 124 runs in 2 and a half hours of fine batting that saw plenty of boundaries flow as Pollock in particular was hit around.

This match is nothing if not a see=saw battle though, and after the pair looked to put England well in control, Vaughan got a routine edge through to Mark Boucher off Pollock, and the wheels began to fall off dramatically - as 4 balls later a superb piece of athleticism from Kallis to take a return catch from Thorpe saw the left hander out for 1, and they were into the middle order.

Like Kallis with the ball, Andrew Flintoff's batting has been very below par this series, and it was no different here, as he regressed back to the Flintoff of a few years ago, hitting Pollock for 6 before top edging his next ball through to Boucher and 3 had fallen for 11 runs with almost an hour still to be played.

As in the previous days though, the light was fading, but there was time for Trescothick to stroke his 15th four to take himself to his 2nd century of the series, the 10th of his career - and his innings will be crucial tomorrow - as England aren't out of danger yet, especially bearing in mind the depleted attack they're fielding. It will be a key day in a superb tight series.

ENGLAND 411-8
Strauss 147, Key 83, Vaughan 82*, Ntini 4-111.

SOUTH AFRICA 419
Gibbs 161, Boucher 64, Hoggard 5-144.

ENGLAND 197-5
Trescothick 101*, Vaughan 54.

Posted by Marc