A second nail biting boxing bout ended with England managing to hold slender edge over the hosts and once again, the hosts will begin to feel a "jinxed" feeling come over them.
paul collingwood ian bell
Another anxious wait for the final wicket to fall, an elusive dream - is what the South African captain, Graeme Smith. "Final Punch" that's what he felt his team missed in the two Tests that England have been able to get away with a last wicket draw.
Smith's own personal Man of the Match, an emotional 183 (the loss of his grandfather going into the series against England) now must seem like eons ago. Such was the manner in which England batted on with fortitude for the better part of their second innings.
South Africa really shut the doors on England trying to win the third Test by setting them a tough target of 466 and making it tougher still for them to draw with a day and half of batting to save the Test.
And but for the final twelve overs, England looked to have denied South Africa the opportunity to square the series. That changed dramatically after Paul Collingwood and Ian bell forged a partnership that while scoring runs, ate up much of the balls for South Africa to press for a win. That the hosts did manage to set the cat amongst the pigeons in the final half-hour to an hour is credit to them.
jp duminy celebrates with team mates
JP Duminy gave South Africa the ray of hope with the wicket of Collingwood. But Bell was standing strong. With Friedel de Wet pulling up with a back injury, the onus lay firmly on Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The latter probably picked up the most important Test wicket of his short career when he had Bell caught in the slips, opening up a major door.
But Steyn appeared to suffer dizziness (or something less clear) in the penultimate over that did not get bowled as planned. Morne managed to bowl yorker deliveries to Graham Onions (also involved in that heart thumping draw at Centurion in the first Test), but South Africa were denied the opportunity to level at 1-1, by one wicket, and effectively ruling them out from winning the series with the serious business of having to square the series in the fourth Test at Johannesburg to avoid series defeat at home.
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