England stumble early in record chase

James Anderson is hoping for another great escape to add to his collection when England look to bat out the final day of their Test series in South Africa.

England are staring down the barrel at Centurion, at 3-52 at stumps on day four in pursuit of a notional 382 for victory on a pitch with unpredictable bounce and plenty of turn for the spinners.

Kagiso Rabada again did the damage for the Proteas in the final session, taking the wickets of Alex Hales and Nick Compton to follow up his seven-wicket haul from the first innings.

Morne Morkel dismissed captain Alastair Cook to leave England in trouble at 3-18, but Joe Root and James Taylor (both 19 not out) ensured there would be no further loss before stumps.

Anderson has been present during some of England's most memorable rearguards of recent years, memorably shutting out Australia alongside Monty Panesar at Cardiff in 2009 as well as featuring in backs-to-the-wall efforts twice on England's last tour of South Africa and again in Auckland three years ago.

Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions ensured a stalemate with England nine down on the same ground six years ago and Anderson believes the mindset in the away dressing room is perfect for another get away.

"We'll be giving it a good go," he said after England's top three fell in 21 awkward overs before stumps.

"Obviously it will be a tough task for us - especially on that pitch, which we've seen plenty of deterioration on.

"But we're going to give it a good go and be positive about it.

"The batsmen we've got left are positive naturally, just in attitude and character.

"It's not just the way people go about scoring runs it's actually positive in the fact we've got people who know they can bat a whole day in a Test. We've got the skill to do it.

"We'll need a bit of luck as well on a pitch like that, we've seen bit of variable bounce and bit of spin as well but we have to be as positive as possible."

A patient century stand between Hashim Amla and Temba Bavuma had earlier put South Africa in a commanding position, with Amla falling just four runs short of what would have been his second century of the match.

The stylish right-hander was dismissed for 96 just after tea but Bavuma (78 not out) steered the hosts to 5-248 declared, a lead of 381.

The pair kept England wicketless between lunch and tea after the touring side had made good inroads in the opening session.

South Africa are down to three front-line bowlers in England's innings with seamer Kyle Abbott struggling due to a hamstring problem. They will be mindful of overworking their depleted attack as they chase a consolation victory in the Test with England already having claimed the series.

The previous highest chase successful in Test matches at Centurion Park was 251 by England in 2000, though the pitch was only used for two days in that match after rain spoiled the contest and the teams decided to forfeit an innings each to force a result.

Anderson began day four in memorable fashion at SuperSport Park, dismissing Stephen Cook early and then sending home captain AB de Villiers packing for a duck, his third in a row, with probably his best ball of the tour, a classic full-pitch inswinger.

In his pre-match press call de Villiers had suggested Anderson had "lost some pace over the years", so consigning him to a third successive duck was a matter of personal pride.

"It was nice to get the captain out," he said when asked about the moment.

"I'm sure the smile on your face is referring to the comments that he made before the game, which were mentioned in the huddle, so yeah, it's nice to get him out early because he's a dangerous player."

He followed with a tongue-in-cheek reference to De Villiers' words, adding: "I don't think he's lost the ability to bat. Some batters you might see play and miss a lot, he's nicked pretty much everything this series."