Flintoff celebrates the opening wicket of Herschelle Gibbs

"I thought as a group we stuck at our task after not starting too well.This afternoon to get them nine down was a great effort," he said.

"We knew if we got a couple of quick wickets we'd be into the all-rounders and we could knock them over.

"Now with them at 247-9 we are in a strong position."

Flintoff admitted the wicket had not behaved as expected.

"The pitch has been strange, for a spell it was easy scoring when De Villiers was going but then we got the ball into decent areas and there was a little bit there for us.

"I think as a batting track it will be at its best on days three and four."

The key all-rounder is thought to be returning to the UK after this match for surgery on his ankle.

"I had a jab the other day before the Test match," he explained.

"It's getting slightly worse so I'm in constant chat with the physios and hopefully I can get through this Test."

Jones claimed three late wickets to put England on top

Fellow paceman Simon Jones was happy with his return to the side, which yielded three wickets.

"Sometimes you didn't know where it was going because both sides of the ball were quite shiny but I tried to put the ball in the right areas more often than not," he said.

"Patience was the key, we grafted really well. Harmy hasn't had any wickets but bowled really well and Hoggy too, we just had to be really, really patient.

"I haven't bowled much in previous matches but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

South Africa opener AB de Villiers, meanwhile, insisted the home side had not blown their chance of squaring the series despite struggling to 247-9 against England at Centurion.

"We had a bit of a collapse in the middle order again, but we're still very positive and I think we've got a good go in this game," he said.

The youngster was denied a maiden Test century when he was lbw for 92.