South Africa may not have batted with quite the same deep resolution in the fourth npower Test as they did in the first three, but they still had England sweating yesterday when it looked as though the hardest work had been done. The enterprise of A.B. de Villiers and the pluck of Paul Harris were further indications of the single-mindedness and professionalism that may well be sufficient to loosen Australia's grip on world cricket this winter.

The top two teams in the world, according to the ICC's computer, play each other in three-Test series in Australia in December and January and then in South Africa early next year. Bookies would probably make the home teams favourites in both cases, but a bigger achievement is not beyond Graeme Smith's combination of strong fast bowlers and resilient batsmen. The team that have forced England from the Vaughan to the Pietersen era may become the first to beat Australia at home since West Indies in 1992-93. If they do, it would do England themselves a great favour with the Ashes in mind by denting Australia's confidence before next summer, especially if England could boost their own relatively frail self-esteem by getting the necessary runs to win today.

A huge gap still divides Australia from South Africa in first and second places in the LG world rankings - 23 points compared with the present South Africa rating only two points above India and nine above England - but, on the field itself, it is bound to be very much closer. It has taken time for Australia to look even remotely vulnerable after the simultaneous retirements of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer, but India exposed the first serious cracks last winter when Ricky Ponting and his team had the wind taken out of their sails by the public reaction to their controversial victory in Sydney.

South Africa's subsequent “winning draw” in India (when the home team levelled the series only by exploiting a suspiciously dry, turning pitch at Kanpur) and their unyielding professionalism on this tour have opened up the possibility that they could be top dogs before long, whatever the computer might say. Like Australia they lack a top-class spinner - Harris is no more than a tidy one - but their batting goes deep and their fast bowling is strong. Dale Steyn will be fresh after missing the last two matches of this series.

Steyn's absence on a pitch he would have enjoyed at the Brit Oval, Stephen Harmison's impressive return, Kevin Pietersen's elevation and the trace of a metaphorical hangover after winning the series at Edgbaston have combined to make South Africa a less formidable team in this game. That is understandable but their motivation will be intense once the first baggy green is sighted, especially given that the last show of strength was no contest: Australia thrashed them in the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean last year.

England, of course, need no extra motivation to score the 197 runs needed to win today. There is more than just the hope that Pietersen will break the general rule (last dented by Nasser Hussain) that England captains lose their first match in charge.

Andrew Strauss and Andrew Cook have much to do to convince people that they are the right pair to open the innings; Ian Bell has a case to make for himself to be the right man at first wicket down; Pietersen would like to round off his fine all-round match so far by adding a second-innings hundred to his first; and so on.

No one would be happier to make a significant batting contribution to a victory, however, than Tim Ambrose. His wicketkeeping performance on this bouncy pitch has been outstanding, especially since he suffered the injury to the ring finger on his left hand that caused the occasional wince yesterday. No one who witnessed his long rivalry with Matt Prior in their Sussex days would doubt that he is the more natural of the wicketkeepers. But Prior is a class batsman and his return will give the XI a proper balance, as Mark Boucher's batting does for South Africa. The clear evidence of the past two matches is that a five-man attack is what England will need, not only against Australia next year but also when England next play Test cricket, in India shortly before Christmas.

It is only five months since Ambrose's dashing cutting helped to win the Wellington Test on the sporty pitch at the Basin Reserve, but the quick bowlers have learnt to pitch the ball up to him since. They have exposed the limited range of his forward movement and a bat that sometimes comes down less than perfectly straight. Ambrose is a cricketer of character but unless he gets the chance to make a telling fifty-odd today, it looks as if Prior, reinstated in his place for the forthcoming one-day internationals, will be back for the Ahmedabad Test in December.