After a see-saw two days of Test cricket, South Africa have a slight edge going into what could be a decisive third day of action.

England v South Africa: Third Test, Day Three
Reuters

The visitors finished the first day at 262/7 after a suddenly incisive England bowling attack scalped the South African top order with barely a collective century on the board. The damage was dealt by Steven Finn, who finished the day with the wickets of Alviro Petersen (22), Hashim Amla (13) and Jacques Kallis (3), arguably three of the most dangerous players in the visitors' squad.

South Africa fought back bravely though, with half centuries from Jean-Paul Duminy and Vernon Philander (61 each) and a strong knock from Jacques Rudolph (42). The tail wagged comfortably, with Dale Steyn (26) and Morne Morkel (25) ensuring the visitors managed to cross 300. The South Africans were finally dismissed for 309, with Finn grabbing 4/75 and James Anderson 3/76.

The English replied with a top order wobble of their own, losing four wickets even faster than the South Africans did five. Steyn was once again the tormentor-in-chief, picking up 2/48 and he was assisted by Morkel, who also grabbed a couple of wickets. Andrew Strauss (20), Alastair Cook (7), Jonathan Trott (8) and James Taylor (10) were the men dismissed early, leaving the hosts reeling at 54/4. Fortunately, Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow (the latter making an appearance only because Kevin Pietersen was dropped after the texting controversy) putting on 124 for the fifth wicket before Bell (58) holed out to Petersen to give Philander his sole wicket of the day. Bairstow (72*) remained unbeaten, with Prior (22*) for company.

Day Three

England will be keen to get themselves back in control of this Test and will need newcomer Bairstow to continue to frustrate the South African attack. A century is an absolute minimum and one from Prior couldn't hurt. This is the last recognised batting pair for England and although the likes of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad can bat, if South Africa break through this wall, it is unlikely Steyn and co. will be held back for too long.

The visitors, on the other hand, will know they need wickets... fast. Graeme Smith's only hope of winning this Test is he can bowl the English out as quickly as possible, so that he retains as big a lead as he can going into his second innings and give his bowlers enough time to take ten more English wickets on the final day.

Teams:

England: A Strauss (c), A Cook, J Trott, I Bell, J Taylor, J Bairstow, M Prior (wk), S Broad, G Swann, J Anderson, S Finn

South Africa: G Smith (c), A Petersen, H Amla, J Kallis, AB de Villiers (wk), J Rudolph, JP Duminy, V Philander, D Steyn, M Morkel, I Tahir

Umpires: Kumara Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Simon Taufel (Australia)

Where to Watch Live:

You can follow the game live from 10.30am BST to 7pm BST on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD 1. Special commentary will be available on BBC 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 LW and via the BBC Sport Web site.

Australia South Africa