England was bowled out for 169 in their second innings just before lunch on the fourth day. Morkel finished with figures of 4 for 59 as he and his fast bowling partner, Dale Steyn, finished with a combined tally of 14 wickets in the match.

Paul Collingwood was the only England batsman who showed some resistance, scoring 71 on a morning where 7 wickets fell for just 121 runs. Collingwood’s fighting innings ended when JP Duminy was brought on to bowl his part time off-spinners. His first ball was a long hop which Collingwood pulled straight to Morkel at deep backward square leg. He made 71 off 88 balls with 12 fours and a six.

Match Summary:

South Africa 423 for 7 (Smith 105, Boucher 95) beat England 180 (Steyn 5-51) and 169 (Collingwood 71) by an innings and 74 runs

Men of the Match: Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn

Men of the Series: Mark Boucher (South Africa) and Graeme Swann (England)

When bad light stopped play on the second day, a day marred by heavy rains, South Africa had taken a lead of 35 runs. England are 1-0 up in the series winning the second test. England was earlier bowled out for 180 on the first day.

Smith dominated all the England bowlers, notching up his 19^th test hundred. He was eventually dismissed for 105 off 187 balls, smashing 16 fours in his innings. Ryan Sidebottom, making his return to the England side, had the better of him, making him edge one to skipper Andrew Strauss at slip minutes before the rain interruption.

At the close of play, Hashim Amla was batting on 73 and Jacques Kallis was with him on 7. With plenty of batting to come, the South African line-up would be looking to pile on the runs and not bat again in the game.

Match Summary:

South Africa 215 for 2 (Amla 73*, Kallis 7*) lead England 180 (Collingwood 47, Steyn 5-51) by 35 runs

In reply, South Africa were 29 for no loss at stumps with skipper Graeme Smith (12 not out) and Ashwell Prince (15 not out) at the crease.

Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Morne Morkel rattled the English top order picking up three wickets in the first five overs to leave England struggling at 39 for four.

Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell then revived the England innings taking them to 100 for four at lunch. Collingwood and Bell added 76 runs for the fifth wicket before debutant Ryan McLaren had the former caught at point off a leading edge for 47.

Collingwood’s wicket started a collapse during which England lost their last six wickets for just 80 runs. Steyn was the chief destroyer, ending with figures of 5 for 51.

England are currently leading the four match series 1-0.

Match Summary:

South Africa 29 for 0 (Smith 12*, Prince 15*) trail England 180 (Collingwood 47, Steyn 5-51) by 151 runs

The solid middle order batsman has been difficult to dismiss in the ongoing series against South Africa. He scored 50 and 26 not out in the first test at Centurion, 91 in an innings victory at Durban and 19 & 40 at Cape Town, with the 40 in the second innings coming of 188 balls helping the tourists draw the game. In fact, all his innings throughout the series have been less about the number of runs he has scored and more about the time that he has spent on the crease, frustrating the Proteas, and helping England save two matches out of the three.

“I might bore a few people but it’s a job I enjoy and I love to annoy the opposition,” Collingwood told reporters. “I’ve always been a fighter, ever since growing up with my brother in my early teens. I will always go out there and fight. This whole team has shown that resilience. Obviously you need flair and genius at times but in Test cricket resilience is so important. My innings out here have been very special. Centurion was good and in Cape Town I always had the belief we could do it.”

Collingwood said his resilient innings of 40 in the second innings of the third Test, which eventually helped England hold on to a battling draw, was worth a century to him and England. “It was such a big game for us. It’s hard to measure these innings, they’re not about runs, they’re about the time you spend in the middle,” he added. “The attitude you show to the other players, the balls you face. I think those innings are worth a hundred and those innings give me more pleasure than some hundreds.”

England has escaped defeat in two matches of the series. They finished the first and third matches with their last pair at the wicket, the first time that has happened twice in the same series in test cricket.

England finished on 296 for nine after losing four wickets in the final hour of play. Earlier, they had also lost nine wickets in the first Test in Centurion but had managed to save the game. The result meant that England will go into the fourth and final Test in Johannesburg next Thursday with an unbeatable 1-0 lead.

The match was heading towards a comfortable draw with Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell batting solidly for almost four hours in sixth wicket partnership before Collingwood was caught at slip off the part-time off-spinner JP Duminy, with 13.3 overs remaining in the game.

In a dramatic turn of events, Duminy’s next over saw Matt Prior giving a catch to AB de Villiers at short leg. South Africa immediately went on the attack and with up to seven fielders clustered around the bat, Stuart Broad survived without scoring a run for 22 balls before a ball from left-arm spinner Paul Harris bounced and popped off his glove for De Villiers to make another catch at short leg.

In an inspired bowling change, fast bowler Morne Morkel was brought back into the attack and with his very first ball, the lanky pacer had Bell caught at first slip by Graeme Smith after a 286-minute vigil in which he scored 78.

There were 17 balls left with England 9 wickets down but Onions and Graeme Swann survived against Dale Steyn and Morkel, with Onions playing out the last over from Morkel with unbelievable composure.

This is the third time in the last year that England has managed to salvage a draw. Earlier, in the Ashes series last year, England were nine down but Paul Collingwood and James Anderson defied the Aussies a win. In the first test of this series at Centurion, again, England were nine down and saved the match with a heroic knock by Paul Collingwood, with Graham Onions playing out the final over.

And here at Newlands, England completed the trilogy of great escapes!

Match Summary:

England 273 (Prior 76, Morkel 5-75) and 296 for 9 (Bell 78, Collingwood 40) drew with South Africa 291 (Kallis 108, Anderson 5-63) and 447 for 7 declared (Smith 180, Amla 95)

Man of the Match: Graeme Smith

Chasing 466 to win or bat out a minimum of 146 overs for a draw, England were 132 for 3 at stumps on Day 4. Strauss (45) and Cook (55) led the reply with a 101-runs opening stand before Cook was dismissed with just over an hour’s play remaining in the day. Cook top-edged a pull against Friedel de Wet as wicketkeeper Mark Boucher completed an easy catch.

Skipper Andrew Strauss followed three overs later when he was caught at short leg off left-arm spinner Paul Harris.

But England’s hopes of saving the match suffered the biggest jolt shortly before the close of play when Kevin Pietersen was leg before wicket to Dale Steyn, two balls into the fast bowler’s last spell of the day. Pietersen had been lucky earlier as after being given out leg before to De Wet, he sought a review of umpire Daryl Harper’s decision and the decision was changed when it was clear he had edged the ball into his pad.

Earlier, South Africa added 135 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 31.2 overs on the fourth day before Smith declared the innings at 447 for 7 giving England a target of 466 to win.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith took his overnight score of 162 to 183 as he and Jacques Kallis batted comfortably against the second new ball, which was taken at the start of play. Smith was eventually caught on the fine leg boundary when he top-edged a hook against Graham Onions. He made his 183 off 272 balls with 25 fours.

Kallis followed up his first innings hundred with a 46 in the second innings before he edged an attempted square cut against James Anderson and was caught behind. South Africa went into attacking mode after lunch when 50 runs were added in 7.2 overs, with all three batsmen who were dismissed falling in a chase for quick runs, including JP Duminy, who played a cameo of 36 off 41 balls.

Anderson took three for 98 and Graeme Swann three for 127.

Match Summary:

England 273 (Prior 76, Morkel 5-75) and 132 for 3 (Trott 24*, Anderson 8*) need another 334 runs to beat South Africa 291 (Kallis 108, Anderson 5-63) and 447 for 7 declared (Smith 180, Amla 95)

South African skipper Graeme Smith made a sublime century, his 19^th in test cricket, finishing the day at 162 not out as he shared a second wicket stand of 230 with Hashim Amla, who made 95. With a lead of 330 on the board and two days to go in the match, South Africa are in a commanding position to push for series leveling win.

South Africa had everything going for them right from the beginning on Day 3 as they took just six overs to finish off the last three England wickets for just 32 runs, giving the home team a lead of 18 runs in the first innings.

Fast bowler Morne Morkel took wickets off successive balls in the first over of the day to complete his second five-wicket haul in Tests. He finished with figures of five for 75.

Match Summary:

South Africa 291 (Kallis 108, Anderson 5-63) and 312 for 2 (Smith 162*, Kallis 20*) lead England 273 (Prior 76, Morkel 5-75) by 330 runs

England were 241 for 7 at the close of play, still 50 runs behind South Africa’s first innings total of 291.

England, who ripped through the South African batting line-up early on the second day, cleaning up the last four wickets in less than 4 overs, were unable to take control of the game thanks to a spirited bowling effort by Dale Steyn (3 for 64) and Morne Morkel (3 for 57).

Seven wickets fell during a dramatic morning’s play, with South Africa losing their last four wickets for 12 runs in 17 balls at the start of the day. Fast bowler James Anderson took three wickets for one run as South Africa’s remaining batsmen succumbed rapidly to some quality swing bowling.

Anderson finished with five for 63, his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests, but the key breakthrough came from fellow paceman Graham Onions, who dismissed South African centurion Kallis with the second ball of the day without adding to his overnight score of 108.

In reply, England slumped to 64 for three at lunch. Another wicket fell soon after the break when Paul Collingwood was leg before wicket to Morne Morkel for 19. Alastair Cook (65) and Ian Bell (48) put on 60 for the fifth wicket and there were further useful partnerships of 41 between Bell and Matt Prior (52 not out) and 51 between Prior and Stuart Broad (25).

Match Summary:

England 241 for 7 (Prior 52*, Swann 5*) trail South Africa 291 (Kallis 108, Anderson 5-63) by 50 runs

Swann has moved to the third position in the ICC rankings for bowlers after his nine-wicket haul in the second test propelled England to a huge victory. The win took England 1-0 up in the series with two matches to go. However, things weren’t quite the same when he toured South Africa as a young spinner in 1999-2000.

“The difference between this current tour and that one is like polar opposites,” the 30-year-old Swann told the Mail on Sunday. “I would turn up at the next hotel and the first thing I’d find out was where the bar was located. I was young and stupid and I didn’t realise that sometimes you need more than one alarm clock to wake you up.”

Swann was not picked for any of the tests on the 1999-2000 tour and he was candid enough to accept that he was not good enough in those days. “When you are 19 you think you know everything there is to know,” he said. “You’re convinced you’re right and that everyone else in the world is old and senile, out of touch and wrong. At the end of it (then coach) Duncan (Fletcher) sat me down for my tour review and praised me for my ‘tenacious’ attitude in training but I didn’t need to be told… I was nowhere near good enough, a million miles from playing Test cricket.”

After England’s historic win in the second-test at Durban on Wednesday, England skipper Andrew Strauss said that Swann has been a key figure in the team’s resurgence this year. “Graeme has had a massive impact over the last 12 months,” said Strauss. “He has always been a very attacking spinner, he gives it a rip, bowls an attacking line and with the extra pressure of test cricket, that can be invaluable.”

Swann added that, in hindsight, he was pleased he did not feature in the test side 10 years ago. “I’m very glad I didn’t play because I certainly wouldn’t have done justice to myself and I may have made such a hash of it that I never got another go,” said the spinner who has also contributed to England’s success with the bat with some splendid innings lower down the order.

“Even if I had done okay, in all probability I would have formed too high an opinion of myself and ended up disappearing from the game and stuck in a day job I hated,” he said.

Kallis finished the day at 108 not out to keep South African hopes of a comeback in the series alive after the home team was in trouble at 127 for 5. It was a crucial knock for the burly all-rounder after South Africa had lost the second test at Durban by an innings and 98 runs to go 1-0 down in the series.

Earlier, England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and opted to bowl first in overcast conditions. And James Anderson proved his skipper right when he got Ashwell Prince (0) to edge one to wicket-keeper Matt Prior off just the fourth ball of the match.

South Africa could have been two down soon, as skipper Graeme Smith, on one at that time, edged the first delivery off the second over by Graham Onions straight to second slip but Graeme Swann couldn’t hang on to a sitter.

Smith and Hashim Amla put on 45 for the second wicket before Amla was leg before wicket to Graham Onions for 14. Smith was the next to go for 30 caught behind off Anderson off the first ball he faced after lunch.

Jacques Kallis and AB De Villiers then consolidated the innings to some extent with a 76 runs stand off 126 balls. Swann, man of the match in the first two Tests, ended the third wicket partnership when he had De Villiers smartly caught at short midwicket by Strauss for 36.

JP Duminy then suffered his second successive first-ball dismissal when he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Boucher then provided able support to Kallis. Boucher, in particular, was in splendid form as he made 51 off 87 balls before he was leg before wicket to Broad.

Dale Steyn provided surprisingly capable support to Kallis adding an unbeaten 63 runs for the seventh wicket until bad light stopped play 20 balls after the second new ball was taken. For England, James Anderson finished the day with figures of 2 for 62 while Swann finished with 2 for 74.

Match Summary:

South Africa 279 for 6 (Kallis 108*, Boucher 51, Steyn 26*, Anderson 2-62) v England