England were facing an innings defeat inside four days here as Graeme Smith's fast bowlers moved in for the kill. With a tea score of 182 for six, England were still 137 runs away from making South Africa bat again in the npower Second Test and apparently doomed despite Tim Ambrose and Andrew Flintoff trying to dig in.

Michael Vaughan's team began the day on 50 for two, still 269 runs behind, but were given a glimmer of hope when opener Alastair Cook and nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson threatened to see out the morning session while putting together a half-century stand.

But, having been felled by a lifting delivery from 90 mph paceman Dale Steyn, the still groggy Anderson went leg before for a brave, Test-best 34 just before lunch and England were soon tumbling towards a first defeat in seven Tests.

Kevin Pietersen hit his first four balls for three boundaries and a single but then edged the fifth to be caught behind; Ian Bell carved to gully and Cook's defiance ended on 60 via a leading edge to cover.

Precious little has gone right here for Vaughan's team. They lost their most reliable bowler, Ryan Sidebottom, to injury, then took a huge gamble by replacing him with the virtually unknown Darren Pattinson. On top of that, they shortened the batting line-up by dropping Paul Collingwood before giving away far too many first-innings wickets with reckless shots after losing an important toss.

As for South Africa's commanding score of 522, the visitors enjoyed better batting conditions but used them superbly with century-makers Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers showing tremendous discipline and judgement over what to play.

Two England batsmen, at least, needed to follow suit today.

That was asking far too much of natural tailender Anderson, of course, but the longer he could hang around the better because the ball, at 24 overs old, still had some hardness about it when play began. Remarkably, De Villiers has not been dismissed for a duck in any of his 73 Test innings. And, more surprising, neither has Anderson - in 38 visits to the crease - after getting off the mark this morning by squirting Makhaya Ntini to point via a leading edge.

It was to Cook, though, that England were looking for an innings along the lines of Neil McKenzie's nine-hour match-saving marathon for South Africa at Lord's a week ago. And he could not be faulted for lack of effort.

The Essex batsman set out his stall last night, spending 45 minutes without scoring at one stage but never looking flustered. And he was all care and concentration again today until finally perishing.

With Jacques Kallis, Steyn and spinner Paul Harris all entering the attack inside the first hour this morning, England at least made South Africa search for a breakthrough.

But when Anderson played two cracking strokes, punching slow left-armer Harris through the covers for consecutive boundaries, he was becoming a real nuisance and Steyn knew he had to be softened up.

Going around the wicket, he first hit the left-hander on his right wrist with a lifter. That blow required a bit of medical attention, but not nearly as much as the next one. Steyn's follow-up delivery was not short enough to duck under and when Anderson tried, he took a heavy blow to the side of his jaw.

Some spectators booed as Anderson crumpled to the ground, but there was nothing wrong with Steyn's hostility.

It looked for a time as though the batsman who started this summer as a Test No11 would be forced to retire hurt. But having bravely carried on, and seen out the last three balls, Anderson was pinned lbw by a full length ball during Steyn's next over.

England had got to within 15 minutes of seeing out the first session. They ended up losing not one but two wickets, though, with Pietersen failing to deliver.

It is all very well counter-attacking but falling to your fifth ball, with the team in a crisis, is not much use.

In the end, Pietersen looked as though he was trying not to play at Kallis's outswinger. He nicked it all the same, and South Africa were on a roll that Bell's dismissal early this afternoon threatened to turn into a romp.

Prince and De Villiers would almost certainly have left a wide long hop of the kind Morne Morkel sent down, at least during the first hour or two of their innings. But Bell's eyes lit up - and so did De Villiers' as took a stunning righthanded catch in the gully.

Cook's near five-hour effort ended with a looping, leading edge catch to cover off the canny Kallis, meaning that Ambrose and Flintoff represented the team's last real hope.