Brit Oval (fourth day of five, South Africa won toss)

South Africa 194 and 318 (Ab de Villiers 97), England 316 and 0-0

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A defiant innings by Ab de Villiers gave South Africa an outside chance of snatching victory when England were set a target of 197 on the fourth day of the fourth and final Test at the Oval on Sunday.

England faced eight balls before bad light stopped play without any runs scored.

De Villiers hit 97 and found a determined ally in tailender Paul Harris as South Africa, trailing by 122 runs on the first innings, made 318 in their second innings.

De Villiers and Harris (34) put on 95 for the eighth wicket, frustrating the England bowlers and defying the second new ball which was taken when the stand was worth only 23.

The resistance ended when Harris was caught at second slip by Andrew Flintoff off Stuart Broad, with De Villiers following in the next over when he charged down the pitch against left-arm spinner Monty Panesar and was bowled.

Tea

Kevin Pietersen was facing a potentially tricky test of his captaincy as two of South Africa's most stubborn players through the series kept England at bay again, pushing their lead well beyond a hundred and thwarting the early overs with the second new ball.

AB de Villiers mixed defence with some punchy attacking strokes while Paul Harris, refusing to take on any of the frequent short balls, stuck strictly to defence and Pietersen's decision to feed de Villiers with singles to keep the lower order player on strike failed to make immediate dividends.

South Africa enjoyed the better of the second session despite a six-over spell in which they lost Mark Boucher to a looping catch when James Anderson found extra bounce and then Morne Morkel, whose struggles against Monty Panesar have been a theme through the four-match series and continued with a catch to short leg via the glove.

But de Villiers, the match-winner at Headingley, continued to look reasonably assured and had no qualms in allowing the obdurate Harris to face Anderson and Stephen Harmison with the new ball. By tea South Africa were 143 ahead without de Villiers required to do anything unorthodox.

Lunch

Test cricket did not feel quite so bad for Tim Ambrose as England made up for time lost on Saturday and raised hopes of victory with a day to spare. Keeping wicket with a suspected broken finger, and knowing that his place is in greater jeopardy than ever, Ambrose more than played his part in a continuing revival.

The extra pace and bounce of Stephen Harmison has ruffled South Africa but is also challenging the athleticism and reach of the Anglo-Australian Ambrose, who is not a tall man. Late swing, too, was testing glovework encumbered by the fracture, which is being protected by a plastic gauze cast and strapping.

But he reacted sharply to hold a catch low to his right when Hahim Amla drove away from his body against Harmison to set England on their way again after the frustrations of yesterday. Harmison soon struck again with Paul Collingwood taking an equally adroit catch to remove Jacques Kallis.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between and South Africa were effectively 39 for 5 when Ashwell Prince took out his frustration against Andrew Flintoff, slashing wildly to become the third South African caught behind the wicket during the session, this time by Andrew Strauss at first slip.