Graeme Swann & Stuart Broad set up England victory bid
Second Test, Durban: South Africa 343 & 76-6 v England 575-9d (day four, stumps) Play resumes Wednesday: 0730 GMT Coverage: Listen to Test Match Special on BBC Radio Four Longwave, Radio 5 live sports extra, the Red Button and BBC Sport website; text commentary online and on mobile phones. Also live on Sky Sports Match scorecard
Broad's three quick wickets after tea left England scenting victory
By Oliver Brett
England will need to take just four wickets on the final day in Durban to win the second Test and take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
A remarkable burst from Graeme Swann (3-22) and Stuart Broad (3-18) wrecked South Africa's top order as six wickets tumbled in just 71 deliveries.
The hosts were 76-6, still 156 behind, when bad light and rain ended play.
England had earlier declared on 575-9, 232 ahead, with Ian Bell making 141 from 227 balls and Matt Prior 60.
As South Africa then reached a fairly comfortable 27-0 from their first nine overs in their second innings on a wicket with a reputation for going flat, the draw looked the likeliest result by a long way.
But Swann removed Ashwell Prince with his second ball, thanks to a sharp catch from Bell at silly point, and clean bowled Hashim Amla on the stroke of tea.
Jacques Kallis, so often the bane of English supporters, suffered a temporary aberration as he chose to leave a Broad inswinger which ripped out his off-stump.
AB de Villiers, who watched that dismissal from the pavilion, failed to learn the lesson. He padded up to another Broad delivery, England pleaded for lbw and umpire Amiesh Saheba upheld the appeal.
A referral failed to save De Villiers' bacon as replays showed the ball bending back to clip the top corner of off-stump.
A hurried chat between skipper Graeme Smith and the incoming batsman JP Duminy failed to stop the momentum. Duminy tentatively prodded at a ball he could have left and the inside edge crashed into his stumps to give Broad two wickets in two balls. The hat-trick ball was a good one, but Mark Boucher defended it safely.
I needed a good innings - Bell
Smith perilously avoided running himself out for the second time in the match as England continued to crank up the pressure, but was the next to go when Swann arrowed one past his bat and into his pads. South Africa's skipper used up his final referral, but it was a futile gesture as Swann won his fourth lbw appeal in the match.
In the circumstances, Boucher and Morne Morkel did well to survive a further 11 overs of Broad, Swann and James Anderson - the only blemish coming when Prior dropped Morkel off Swann in the final over of the day.
Thick cloud cover was in place when England resumed their innings on Tuesday morning with the scoreboard showing 386-5. Bell was on 55 and Prior 11.
The two compact right-handers were completely untroubled by the South African bowlers and confidently played their shots.
Prior moved into top gear against the occasional spin of Duminy, launching him for a four and a slightly fortuitous six in an over which saw England's wicketkeeper reach his half-century.
Duminy had his revenge when Prior chopped onto his stumps, but the two batsmen had by then added 112, putting defeat out of the equation for England.
Swann has had a brilliant 12 months for England in Test cricket
Bell, whose place has been under intense scrutiny, reached his ninth Test century and first since July 2008 with a lofted on-drive for four off Paul Harris, but the run-up to lunch was otherwise a dull passage of play, with neither Bell nor Broad showing much adventure.
Thankfully, that all changed after lunch as Broad muscled Harris onto the grass banks for six in an over costing 15, before edging Duminy to slip.
Swann wasted no time playing himself in, pulling Makhaya Ntini for a huge six in making 22 from 14 balls, and Bell added two post-lunch boundaries before finally chasing a wide one from Dale Steyn. The declaration followed 10 balls later.
Wednesday, which should provide at least two full sessions of clear weather should they be needed, is likely to see Centurion man of the match Swann take centre stage once again.
It has been quite a 12 months for the Nottinghamshire man, who on Tuesday became the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calendar year.
Paul Collingwood, meanwhile, dislocated a finger in the warm-up on Tuesday and is unlikely to play any further part in the match. However an X-ray has confirmed there is no fracture and he may be available for the third Test in Cape Town from 3 January.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?