England's hopes of maintaining their proud unbeaten record into the New Year came under serious threat in the third Test after South Africa mounted an impressive fightback with bat and ball at Newlands.

Heavily beaten in the first Test at Port Elizabeth, South Africa seized on the momentum gained by hanging on for a draw in Durban to keep England's tiring attack in the field for most of the second day and edge towards a commanding position.

Already showing signs of fatigue after three Tests in as many weeks, England were unable to prevent South Africa mounting an impressive lower order fightback to reach a total of 441.

The hosts then reduced England from 52 without loss to 95 for four at the close.

It left England, unbeaten in 13 successive Tests stretching back over a year, under real threat of losing that record, with left-arm spinner Nicky Boje exploiting signs of uneven bounce before the close.

South Africa's day had been given an early lift with news that England captain Michael Vaughan had hurt his right hand batting against Lancashire seamer James Anderson in the sub-standard nets at Newlands and had been taken to hospital for an X-ray.

The diagnosis proved to be bruising to his middle finger, but it proved a bad omen for England on a day which ended with another batting failure by their captain.

They initially responded to his 40-minute absence from the field by claiming an early breakthrough, with Matthew Hoggard claiming a fortuitous leg before decision against Hashim Amla.

Two further wickets were claimed shortly before lunch to leave South Africa on 313 for seven when Boje, who had just two Test half-centuries to his name, joined Jacques Kallis at the crease.

The pair went on to frustrate the tourists for a further 28 overs, adding 104 crucial runs and setting the tone for the day, which firmly established South Africa's dominance for the first time in the series.

Kallis, unbeaten on 81 overnight, was a classic example of patience and was happy for Boje to dominate the partnership.

It allowed Kallis to progress slowly to his 19th Test century after over eight hours at the crease.

Smashed on the right hand by the first delivery of the day from Steve Harmison during a fiery early spell, Kallis' attacking strokeplay was minimal and he hit only one of the 11 boundaries in his 149 after reaching his century.

But his impact was again crucial and took his tally to seven centuries in his last nine Tests.

That includes successive hundreds against England, and it was his fourth at his favourite Newlands ground.

His long vigil was finally ended by Andrew Flintoff tempting him into a tired-looking edge behind.

Three balls later Makhaya Ntini gave a leading edge to mid-on as England attempted to end South Africa's resistance.

Even then it was not that straightforward with last man Charl Langeveldt, making his Test debut, hanging around after suffering a painful blow on his left hand.

After several minutes of treatment he stayed long enough to help Boje progress to a superb 76 and add an important 24 runs.

England made a solid start in their reply, with Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss forging yet another half-century stand.

That briefly raised hopes they could launch another England fightback similar to their stunning response in Durban.

However, all hopes of that happening ended with Trescothick cutting a rising ball from Makhaya Ntini straight to point.

Robert Key, brought in for the injured Mark Butcher, then marked his return to Test cricket with a duck three overs later, caught behind off the glove as he attempted to pull Shaun Pollock.

Captain Vaughan, yet to score a half-century in the series, was perhaps still affected by his early blow in the nets.

He edged an outswinger from Langeveldt to the wicketkeeper to fall for another disappointing score of 11.

Perhaps the biggest blow to England's hopes of mounting a fightback, though, was the loss of in-form Strauss.

He chopped Ntini on to his stumps off the back foot in the second last over of the day just five runs short of his half-century.

Strauss had already claimed one milestone after pulling Pollock eight overs earlier for four.

It took him to the 29 runs he needed to follow Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hutton and Wally Hammond in becoming the fourth fastest England player in history to reach 1,000 Test runs in only his 19th innings.

Unfortunately for England, he was not able to contribute many more and their middle order now has to match South Africa's display if they are to stay in contention.