HEADINGLEY

(Third day of five, South Africa won toss)

England 203 and 50-2, South Africa 522

Close

Peter Moores, the England head coach, is the eternal optimist. So no doubt he will spend tonight wondering how England will be able to exploit a pitch with increasing signs of variable bounce when his side sets South Africa a fourth innings target of something around the 150 mark.

Paul Harris and Michael Vaughan were both struck painful blows on the fingers with balls that shot up from just short of a length and Morne Morkel, who bowled well without taking a wicket in the final session, is sure to be a handful when play resumes tomorrow with England still 269 behind. It is the equivalent of the distance from Durham to Canterbury.

The loss of Andrew Strauss when Makhaya Ntini went around the wicket represented a major blow because he has been in decent form. That could not be said for Vaughan, although the captain hung in with determination until one from Ntini was just too good and took the edge. Fatigue was understandable after 176.2 overs in the field.

South Africa had shown more urgency after tea. AB de Villiers played a couple of beautiful cover drives en route to 174 and it took a fine, low left-handed catch at Andrew Flintoff at slip to end a very good innings. The tail hit and hoped but poor Darren Pattinson suffered another moment to forget when he dropped a routine catch from Dale Steyn.

Monty Panesar finished with 3-65, while James Anderson worked hard to retire to the dressing room with figures of 3-136

Tea

Watching the closing round of the Open golf on television screens behind the West Stand became an attractive option for spectators seeking refuge from South Africa's remorseless grind in the middle. But respite was rather harder for the England bowlers dragging their weary bodies through a sixth session.

With plenty of time in hand, batsmen showed no inclination to start flaying their bats or even nibbling outside off stump and the sight of Darren Pattinson bowling the second over with the third new ball at 79mph, with only a single slip in place against AB de Villiers, showed just how far England had slipped.

De Villiers, sometimes stylish, continued to demonstrate the judgement that characterised his innings all the way through and he whipped Pattinson through midwicket contemptuously once he was past his 150. By this stage, Andrew Flintoff, best in short sharp bursts, had bowled 40 overs on his Test comeback.

Pattinson had dropped Mark Boucher shortly after lunch and the wicketkeeper moved from 8 to 34 before he pulled onto his stumps against the deserving James Anderson. Monty Panesar then found sufficient turn to bowl the left-handed Morne Morkel through the gate but, at tea, the lead of 277 looked mountainous.

Lunch

AB de Villiers is hardly flavour of the month in the England camp after his claim for a slip catch against Andrew Strauss was undermined by the harsh lens of the television camera on Friday. That, along with a sequence of playing and missing today, may have explained an ungenerous response from the fielders when he completed his hundred.

England, already 119 behind overnight, suffered another frustrating session with a single wicket to show for their efforts. James Anderson bowled very well without luck, but Stuart Broad was handicapped by an injury to his left foot and the attack was understandably down on pace after the toil of the past week.

Both de Villiers and Ashwell Prince seemed intent on grinding down England and made no effort to raise their tempo. Prince crept carefully to 149 before Darren Pattinson, going around the wicket, found one to straighten on the left-hander and take a thin edge on the way through to Tim Ambrose.

De Villiers was more fortunate as Anderson generated swing, but signs of slightly variable bounce were ominous. England had to take every chance on offer and Alastair Cook, at second slip, dropped a difficult but far from impossible chance when Mark Boucher edged the persevering Andrew Flintoff before the break.