Another 29 runs would have taken Strauss to 1,000 and made him the third fastest England player to reach that landmark, in terms of innings (18), after Herbert Sutcliffe (12) and Len Hutton (16).
It was the team's position that mattered most, though, and the Middlesex man's departure put a fresh spring in South Africa's step on another hot, steamy day.
Shaun Pollock, in particular, had looked a lot less than chuffed just before Strauss's dismissal when he gifted England four runs.
Mark Butcher, who somehow survived a torrid few overs against the second new ball last night, played a forward defensive against South Africa's premier paceman and was then handed a welcome boundary by Pollock's wild throw over the keeper's head.
But he was then caught at slip off Jacques Kallis. England appeared in need of more than a few freebies when they conceded a first innings lead of 193 after being shot out for 139 on Boxing Day.
But the outstanding work of Strauss and Trescothick not only opened up all sorts of possibilities but also put the middle order under a searching spotlight.
Butcher and Vaughan were the first pair in the firing line on what remained an essentially true pitch. Together they took the total beyond 300 but Ntini's bouncer was the undoing of England's captain.
Although back in the pavilion, the visitors' encouraging position this morning owed much to Trescothick, who yesterday scored perhaps the most satisfying Test century of his career and was still completely overshadowed by England's Wonderbat.
The vice-captain desperately needed an overseas hundred to prove to himself, as much as anyone else, that he could plunder big runs away from home when under real pressure. The vital century duly arrived and was achieved with barely the hint of a blemish as England produced the fightback that not only revived their hopes of ending the year unbeaten but also offered yet more evidence they are a team transformed in 2004.
Even so, Trescothick scarcely fielded a single question about his innings during last night's close of play media conference because of the fascination with a batting phenomenon called Strauss.
England's vice-captain could have been miffed about the apparent lack of interest in his 132 which gave him an equal stake in his country's fifth best opening partnership of all time.
