England's bruised but determined attack produced a stirring fightback to leave the outcome of the third npower Test hanging in the balance after a thrilling fourth day at Trent Bridge.
Dismissed for a lowly 118 - their lowest Test total on home soil since slumping to 110 all out against South Africa at Lord's five years ago - England looked on course for another comprehensive defeat with the tourists needing only 202 runs for victory.
But just as South Africa seemed set to claim a stranglehold on the series following their innings victory at Lord's, England reduced them to 63 for five when bad light stopped play with 11 overs remaining.
It was a stunning display from an England seam attack which not only boasted less than 50 appearances between them but also had to coast fast bowler Steve Harmison through his eight-over spell after he sustained a right calf strain during the previous day.
Given a head start by an ill-judged decision from umpire Daryl Harper to give South Africa captain Graeme Smith leg before in the ninth over of their reply - television replays suggested he had got an inside edge onto his pads - England produced an adrenaline-fuelled display to thrill the enthusiastic crowd.
That early breakthrough from James Kirtley was followed by an almost identical decision, this time a correct one, in his next over to remove Jacques Rudolph before he had scored and give England's young side the belief they could complete a dramatic victory.
Kirtley's superb early spell prompted England to gamble on Harmison, who had earlier been cleared after being sent for a scan to check out his calf problem, and the Durham fast bowler responded with an excellent spell and the key wicket of opener Herschelle Gibbs.
Despite displaying his discomfort at the end of each delivery stride, Harmison caused difficulties with the extra bounce he exerted from the wicket and frustrated Gibbs into an ill-judged pull shot, fetching the ball from outside off stump and looping the ball high in the air for Ashley Giles to claim the catch at mid-on.
With James Anderson also contributing to remove Jacques Kallis and Boeta Dippenaar during his spell, the fluctuating fortunes of the fourth day had accounted for 14 wickets in only 67 overs and left the tourists needing a further 139 runs to claim victory on a tense final day.
England had begun the fourth day on a perilous nought for one leading by 83 and believing that a lead of around 250 would prove hard to chase, even by South Africa's lengthy batting line-up, on the increasingly deteriorating Trent Bridge wicket.
Perhaps the state of the wicket prayed on England's minds when they resumed because South Africa made inroads at regular intervals throughout the day and very few fell to any deviations or inconsistent bounce from the wicket.
Instead, Shaun Pollock gave an object lesson in the art of seam bowling to dismiss England for their lowest total since Australia set the tone for last winter's Ashes series by removing them for 79 in the opening Test at Brisbane.
Pollock claimed six for 39 and pressurised England's batsmen into almost elementary mistakes and set the tone for South Africa's later efforts, giving the tourists an early lift by claiming the key wicket of captain Michael Vaughan in the seventh over of the day.
That prized scalp, which was achieved with Vaughan pushing forward and edging behind to give wicketkeeper Mark Boucher the first of four catches, prompted a remarkable England collapse with only three batsmen - Nasser Hussain, Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles - even making double figures.
That set the tone for England's capitulation with all-rounder Andrew Hall once again also contributing with the ball to claim wickets with his first two balls, bowling Mark Butcher with a delivery which nipped back to clip his off-stump and winning a leg before decision against Ed Smith with his next ball.
Those two quick wickets increased South Africa's confidence of running through England's line-up, underlined with Alec Stewart giving a tame catch behind off Kallis before Hussain's 113 minutes of defiance was ended when Pollock trapped him leg before.
Once Flintoff had pushed Pollock tamely to point four overs later having threatened a repeat of his Lord's epic by launching Kallis for six, England's tail-end was all that stood between only their fourth total ever under a hundred against South Africa.
Only Ashley Giles' determined 21 prevented that from happening with Pollock claiming two of the last three wickets to fall and leave South Africa with what seemed a comfortable target to chase.
But the energy and enthusiasm of England's inexperienced but determined attack ensured further twists and turns for the Trent Bridge crowd and set up an exciting final day which could provide the pivotal action of the series.