Matt Prior insists England have not given up hope of winning the second Investec Test after rain and South Africa's openers repelled their push for victory on the penultimate day.
Kevin Pietersen failed to add to his overnight 149, an innings that single-handedly turned this match on its head, but Matt Prior's counter-attacking 68 helped the hosts to 425 all out, a lead of just six.
Hopes were high that England could force the initiative as Alviro Petersen, who struck 182 for the Proteas, would only bat if needed due to a hamstring strain, while fellow opener Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis were carrying knee and back injuries respectively.
However, Smith, with strapping on his left knee, and makeshift opener Jacques Rudolph carried South Africa to 39 without loss from 17 overs before rain brought about an early finish.
"We know that if we come in hard tomorrow and put them under pressure, you never know what can happen," said Prior. "If we get a few early wickets, we've got an oppor-tunity to push hard and win.
"It's a bit disappointing to not get a bit more of a lead but, having said that, to get just ahead was good."
Prior hailed Pietersen's impressive knock, claiming the pressure is now on South Africa. Although England's seamers failed to take a wicket, their wicketkeeper-batsman felt they bowled well and that opening pair James Anderson and Stuart Broad were unlucky.
"Hats off to South Africa, they're a very good team and they've played very good cricket so far," Prior said. "But I think the way we bounced back yesterday, KP's innings was superb and we went ahead of them today.
"The way we went out and bowled was absolutely fantastic – Jimmy [James Anderson] and Broady [Stuart Broad] set it up perfectly. We were unlucky not to get a few nicks or a few wickets early on, but the pressure's now on them.
"It's probably the first time in this series they've had to soak up a bit of pressure, so if we can get a few early wickets then you never know what can happen."
Prior addressed his role in the team, insisting he is content to bat at No.7 with the lower order.
"As long as I'm scoring runs and contributing to the team then I'm happy," he added. "The balance of the side is far more important than any individual's preferences.
"There are times where you think 'I'd love to be out here a bit longer', but there you go. If I can contribute and play the role that's needed then that's where I'll play.
"It's a role I've had for a few years now, so I am comfortable and quite enjoy batting with the tail."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article