Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince amassed their highest opening stand of the series to extend South Africa's advantage on the third morning at Newlands, but Graeme Swann struck in his second over to remove Prince for 15 in the final half-hour of the morning session to redress the balance after Morne Morkel had secured an 18-run lead on first innings with the fifth five-wicket haul of his Test career.
By lunch on the hottest day of the series so far, South Africa were 56 for 1 in their second innings, an overall advantage of 74. Smith was unbeaten on 22 from 33 balls, with Hashim Amla alongside him on 14, as England's seam attack failed to find the same penetration or accuracy with the new ball that they had shown in overcast conditions on the first morning.
They did come close to making an extraordinary breakthrough in the third over of the day, when James Anderson appealed speculatively for caught-behind as Prince waved his bat at a leg-side delivery, and after a lengthy delay, umpire Harper raised his finger. The reviewed decision showed that his bat had been at least six inches from making contact, and Prince, on 5 at the time, had a let-off.
He could not, however, make it count. On 7, he inside-edged Graham Onions millimetres past his leg stump, but on 15, his luck finally ran out. Swann was brought into the attack in the 10th over and caused instant palpitations as Smith survived a lbw shout, a low edge towards slip and a top-edged sweep in the space of five balls.
Prince negotiated the final ball of his first over, but that was as far as he could go. Swann's very next delivery trapped him plumb in front of middle, and despite the optimistic use of a review, there was no reprieve. Astonishingly, it was only the fifth delivery that Prince had faced from Swann all series, and he had been dismissed by three of them. Little wonder he left the field shaking his head.
Earlier, Matt Prior had carried the attack back to South Africa after Morkel had claimed back-to-back breakthroughs in his first over of the day, as England added 32 runs to their overnight 241 for 7 to finish their first innings on 273.
Prior, who resumed on his overnight 52, was powerless to react at first as Morkel ripped through England's lower-order, dismissing Swann without addition to his overnight 5 courtesy of a fourth-ball lifter that took the glove and flew to Smith at first slip, before Anderson was handed the second duck of his Test career as Smith again claimed a regulation edge.
England's No. 11, Onions, survived the hat-trick ball, but at 241 for 9, England's deficit was still a sizeable 50 runs. Prior took it upon himself to whittle the lead away, taking on Morkel with a swished edge over the slips for four, before advancing down the wicket twice in his next over, to drive and clip a brace of very welcome boundaries.
Onions, who was limited to a handful of deliveries each over, joined the fun when he slashed outside off at Morkel and edged through Smith's fingertips for four, but it was Prior who eventually fell for 76, as he attempted to work Dale Steyn for a single to keep the strike, but under-edged onto his stumps.
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