Boucher and de Villiers lift South Africa

Lunch South Africa 324 for 5 (Boucher 51*, de Villiers 43*) lead England 180 (Collingwood 47, Steyn 5-51) by 144 runs
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	England struck hard in the first hour but were thwarted thereafter © Getty Images
Related Links Players/Officials: Mark Boucher | AB de Villiers Matches: South Africa v England at Johannesburg Series/Tournaments: England tour of South Africa Teams: England | South Africa

England's bowlers claimed three vital wickets in a gripping first hour of the third morning at Johannesburg before AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher responded with an urgent sixth-wicket stand of 89, as South Africa overcame a testing spell against the second new ball to extend their overnight lead to 144 with five wickets still remaining.

By lunch, the match situation was intriguingly poised. With the threat of more bad weather looming, South Africa know that their best chance of forcing a series-squaring victory is to put as many runs as possible on the board in their first innings, and trust their seam attack, led by Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, to cut through England second-time around as they had done so ruthlessly on the first morning.

To that end, de Villiers and Boucher's alliance suited their requirements perfectly, as they clicked along at almost four runs an over to dent England's momentum after they had produced arguably their most committed spell in the field since the decisive fourth day in Durban. With tight bowling backed up by tigerish fielding, they reduced South Africa from 208 for 2 overnight to a ropey 235 for 5, only for their UDRS jinx to return with a vengeance before lunch.

The man who had the most of the luck on offer was de Villiers, who batted with typical confidence for his unbeaten 43, but nevertheless successfully overturned two upheld appeals from Graeme Swann, the first of which - a gloved sweep-shot - appeared from later replays to be too close to call with a "high degree of confidence", as per the ICC's guidelines. De Villiers then survived an apparent inside-edge off Ryan Sidebottom that England would surely have reviewed, had they not just wasted their final lifeline on a speculative and slightly desperate lbw appeal against Boucher.

In a further pair of ironies, the Sidebottom caught-behind appeal came only moments after the ECB announced that they had formally asked the ICC to reinstate the review that they had lost during the controversy involving Graeme Smith on the second morning. And what is more, Boucher would already have fallen lbw to Swann, and England would consequently still have had that extra chance up their sleeve, had England used their final lifeline in his previous over, when a seemingly innocuous appeal was shown by the Hawkeye replay to have been heading straight into leg stump.

All the UDRS kerfuffle overshadowed a magnificent session of cricket that was completed when Boucher tucked Sidebottom through the leg side to bring up his half-century from 67 balls, a fantastic fighting performance from a man who can always be relied upon to bat according to the needs of his team.

The same, however, has not always been said of Jacques Kallis, who was memorably ponderous in a similar rain-threatened scenario at Centurion on England's last tour in 2004-05, in another match that South Africa had to win to square the series. This time, however, he was one of two wickets to fall in the space of the first 16 balls of the day, as England hurtled out of the blocks in an explosive first hour.

First to go was Hashim Amla, who had partnered Smith superbly on the second day, but was able to add only two runs to his overnight 73. Broad, who resumed with an excellent full length allied to late swing, drew him into a drive outside off, and Prior behind the stumps launched himself in front of first slip to cling onto a superb one-handed catch.

Six balls later, and Kallis was gone as well, once again courtesy of some outstanding fielding. Sidebottom probed his defences with a series of full-length inswingers, before banging in a surprise bouncer which Kallis could only flap off the splice towards James Anderson in the gully, who hurtled forwards, stuck out his left hand, and clung onto a brilliant low chance.

With the new ball looming, England's seamers - even Paul Collingwood - were finding plenty assistance from a still-lively track, but it was their golden-armed spinner, Swann, who made the next incision, as he continued his remarkable habit of striking early in a spell. This time he didn't even need a sighter, as Duminy, whom he also bagged for a first-ball duck at Cape Town, propped forward to a sharp offspinner that bounced and turned, and Collingwood at slip did the rest.

South Africa's lead at that stage was a slender 55, but through the efforts of Boucher and de Villiers, they had hauled themselves back into the ascendancy by lunch. Nevertheless, with more violent storms brewing on the Highveld, they may yet want to be considering a bold declaration this afternoon, if they are to guarantee themselves enough time to claim the 20 wickets that have eluded them all series.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo