Good batting on Monday morning could still see England win the fourth Castle Lager/MTN cricket Test match against South Africa.
That is the views of England’s opening bat Marcus Trescothick, who scored an undefeated 101 when bad light stopped play at the Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.
”If we bat well in the morning session, and we get to 300, we can definitely win it. There’s a lot of overs left in the match.”
The visitors ended the day on 197 for the loss of five wickets when play was called off, giving them an overall lead of 189 runs.
But he did concede it could be a tough ask, given the physical state of many of the England players — in particular that of bowler Steve Harmison, who has an injury to his left calf.
”If you lose your number-one bowler, then it’s always a bit of a worry. The guys have bowled so much, and they’re pretty tired.
”We’ve still got a massive job to do, and we still have to fight hard. It will be great if we can come out with a win,” he said. ”That’s what all our preparation has been about — so that when things get tough we can still go through and win.”
South Africa resumed on their overnight total of 306 for six, with Herschelle Gibbs not out on 136 and Shaun Pollock on nought. Andrew Hoggard claimed his fifth wicket when he had Pollock trapped lbw off the second over of the day.
Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs put on 52 runs together before Gibbs was caught at third man off James Anderson for 161.
Makhaya Ntini and Boje shared a 41-run partnership that ended when Boje was run out for 48. Dale Steyn lasted 12 minutes before Ntini was bowled by Ashley Giles for 26, and South Africa were all out for 419, for a first-innings lead of eight runs.
England had to face two overs before lunch and a fired-up Ntini struck with his first delivery when danger man Andrew Strauss, who scored 147 in the first innings, was caught in the slips by AB de Villiers without scoring.
England came out firing on all cylinders after lunch, and at one stage were scoring at more than five-and-a-half runs an over. Even the dismissal of Robert Key, caught by Kallis off Ntini for 19, did little to slow them down.
Michael Vaughan and Trescothick carried on scoring freely, and the South African bowlers seemed helpless to stop them. The normally economical Shaun Pollock went for 44 runs in his first six overs, and England put on 124 runs between lunch and tea for the loss of just one wicket.
South Africa bowled much better after tea, and brought the run rate down to less than four an over. Pollock was kept out of the attack for just more than an hour, and he seemed rejuvenated when he came back.
In his first over, he had Vaughan caught behind by Mark Boucher for 54, to break the important third-wicket partnership of 124 runs and start a mini collapse.
In the next over, Jacques Kallis, bowling better than he has at any time in the series, took a brilliant catch off his own bowling to send Graham Thorpe back for one run. He did come down quite heavily in the process, hitting his head on the ground, but he seemed to recover quickly enough.
Andrew Flintoff hit Pollock for a magnificent six, but Pollock got his revenge when he had Flintoff caught by Boucher for seven.
Meanwhile, Trescothick moved to his 10th century and his second of the series. When the umpires called play off for the day, Trescothick was not out on 101 and Geraint Jones had seven.
Boje, who captained South Africa for part of the day while Graeme Smith was off the field with a slight concussion, said South Africa will definitely be trying to win the match.
”We need to bowl well tomorrow morning. The first hour will be the key — if we can knock one or two over early, we’ll definitely give it a go. We don’t mind chasing on this wicket. The outfield is quite fast, so if you get it through, it normally goes for four.”
He agreed that the match is evenly poised, but said he thinks South Africa have a slight edge.
”The game is 50-50, but I’d say it’s going our way a little.”
England have sent for Gloucestershire bowler Jonathan Lewis as cover for the fifth and final Test, which starts at Supersport Park in Centurion on Thursday. The 29-year-old is scheduled to arrive in South Africa on Monday. — Sapa