Paceman Steve Finn’s triple strike helped England reduce South Africa to 4-65 at lunch on the first day of the third and final Test at Lord’s on Thursday.
Finn, on his Middlesex home ground, took 3-3 in seven legitimate deliveries to remove Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis, all of whom had made hundreds this series.
Thanks mainly to Finn, England put the controversy regarding Kevin Pietersen’s omission for sending text messages to the Proteas to one side as they at last made early inroads into the tourists’ powerful top order.
Going into the match 1-0 down, England need to win to prevent South Africa replacing them at the top of the world Test rankings.
AB de Villiers was five not out and Jacques Rudolph seven not out at lunch, shortly before rain lashed the ground.
And all this after South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and batted in overcast conditions, having made scores of 259 and 107 in his two previous Tests at Lord’s.
But a third century eluded him when James Anderson, with his first ball from around the wicket, had the left-hander caught behind by wicketkeeper Matt Prior although England had to review the decision after Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena had initially ruled not out.
It was the first time in four innings this series that Smith, who on Thursday broke Australian great Allan Border’s record for most Tests as captain by leading the Proteas for the 94th match, had failed to make a fifty and South Africa were 1-22.
First change Finn, who retained his place at the expense of Tim Bresnan after England recalled offspinner Graeme Swann having opted for an all seam attack during the drawn second Test at Headingley, then took over.
Petersen, who made a Test-best 182 in Leeds, was next out when he gloved the tall Finn, getting good bounce, down the legside to Prior for 22.
And 2-49 soon became 4-54.
Amla, who made a South African record 311 not out in the tourists’ innings victory in the first Test at The Oval, was bowled for 13 by a superb Finn delivery that nipped between bat and pad to clip off-stump.
Kallis then fell for just three, going the same way as Petersen, although his legside glove needed a review by Australian third umpire Rod Tucker that took several minutes.
It appeared the allrounder’s hand was off the bat at the moment of impact.
But Tucker felt differently, much to Kallis’s obvious disbelief, and England captain Andrew Strauss, a Middlesex teammate of Finn, had yet more reason to celebrate his 100th Test and 50th as skipper.