Cricket:Hashim Amla's seventh Test hundred for South Africa ensured England's last nine wickets must last the final day to avoid defeat at Centurion in the first Test.
Amla (100) came in at 20 for two on the penultimate morning and soon saw South Africa falter to a perilous 46 for four, with an existing lead of only 62 on an unpredictable pitch.
But he proved immovable for more than four hours, gradually drawing England’s sting in a fifth-wicket stand of 121 with AB de Villiers (65) and then allowing Mark Boucher (63no) to up the ante while another 75 were plundered from a tiring attack.
By the time James Anderson (four for 73) bowled him with some low bounce from the second new ball, Amla had kept out 212 deliveries and collected 10 fours out of South Africa’s eventual 301 for seven declared.
When England then lost captain Andrew Strauss — caught behind off a good delivery from Morne Morkel — on the way to 11 for one in six overs of batting under cloud cover, they were in a thoroughly unenviable position.
Sweltering conditions persisted almost throughout, but a thundery break-down is expected tomorrow — meaning time could well be the decisive factor in whether Amla’s high-class vigil will be commuted to home victory.