On verge of true glory

Such is the enthusiasm of youth, even after Steyn had finished with the unflattering and unfair figures of one for 122.

But some older heads in South Africa's camp - Kallis among them most probably - knew last night that England had tunnelled their way out of jail and were close to making good their great escape from a first innings deficit of 193.

Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick did plenty of the spadework, of course, with their opening stand of 273.

But Graham Thorpe added vital support to the still fledgling project with a century of his own while first Andrew Flintoff and then Geraint Jones bolted once the going was good.

"It was very evenly balanced and if they had blown away our middle order they might have had 180 to chase," said Thorpe, whose undefeated 118 was his fifth three-figure score since returning to England's team 18 Tests ago.

There is no argument whatsoever about Thorpe's right to a place in Vaughan's side.

The same goes for Flintoff, too, and yesterday the big all-rounder played one of his most measured international innings yet, supplying 60 runs to a vital fifth-wicket stand of 114 after England had been rocked by the loss of Strauss, Vaughan and Mark Butcher inside 13 overs.

But Jones G had the sort of day that will only intensify the debate about whether he should be in the team.

His 73 from 82 balls was just what England needed when they were on top and the opposition attack was there to be smacked to all parts of the outfield.

Jones did his job brilliantly, enabling Vaughan to declare a few overs earlier than would otherwise have been the case.

Batting, though, is only one part of the No 7's duties. Keeping wicket might be even more important, depending on the circumstances, and the Kent man's failure to accept a relatively routine offering last night had fully paid up members of the stumpers' fraternity shaking their heads in dismay.

Jones went for the catch off the edge of Herschelle Gibbs' bat with his right hand when it ought to have been possible to get both gloves into position. The end result was an embarrassing drop and a look of anguish on the face of unlucky bowler Steve Harmison.

Matthew Hoggard's lbw dismissal of Smith quickly put a bounce back into England's step. But no matter how brightly Jones performs in front of the stumps, he cannot afford too many errors like yesterday's behind them.

That dropped catch was just about South Africa's only moment of luck yesterday. As in Port Elizabeth during the First Test, England have enjoyed the rub of the green at Kingsmead so far as tight umpiring decisions and near misses are concerned.

But when a team is on a roll anyway, the more that seems to happen.

The same goes for injuries. A couple of years ago, Ashley Giles would most probably have been sidelined for two Tests after suffering back spasms. Here, the spinner recovered ahead of schedule and was expected to figure fully today.

"The pitch is obviously playing better now but there is something in it and I think Ashley can have a big role in the fourth innings," said Thorpe.

"There is some rough and he'll get some bounce so I don't believe it will be easy for South Africa.

"It won't be easy for us, either, but I would rather be in our position than theirs going into the last day."