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ngland 273 (Prior 76, Morkel 5-75) and 296 for 9 (Bell 78, Collingwood 40) drew with South Africa 291 (Kallis 108, Anderson 5-63) and 447 for 7 declared (Smith 180, Amla 95)
Ian Bell produced the innings of his life and Paul Collingwood battled for four-and-a-half hours in another masterclass of crease occupation, but England's ultimate hero was once again their No. 11, Graham Onions, who reprised his heroics in the first Test at Centurion by seeing off the final six deliveries of the match, bowled by Morne Morkel, to ensure that England will go to Johannesburg for next week's fourth and final Test with a 1-0 lead in the series and a chance to emulate the achievement of Michael Vaughan's men on their last tour of South Africa in 2004-05.

In a day of desperate tension that began with England uncomfortably placed on 132 for 3 and deep in the mire after going to lunch on 179 for 5, Bell and Collingwood seemed to have drawn the sting of South Africa's attack in an epic and virtually strokeless sixth-wicket stand to 112 in 57 overs. But then, just when it seemed that the draw was inevitable, JP Duminy found the edge that had eluded all of his team-mates, but most particularly the magnificent but luckless Dale Steyn, to send Collingwood on his way for 40, and trigger a fraught final hour in which four wickets were chiselled away for 18 irrelevant runs, in 64 balls.

With eight men were camped round the bat for the spinners, and gasps and appeals ringing out from the fielders and crowd alike, Matt Prior came and went for 4 from nine balls, brilliantly scooped by AB de Villiers at short leg to give Paul Harris his first wicket of an otherwise disappointing day's work. Stuart Broad survived one referral for a catch at silly point, but was then nailed on the glove by another Harris lifter, and sent on his way with 20 deliveries of the match remaining. By this stage Steyn, the only seamer to truly rise to the occasion, had been recalled at the Kelvin Grove End give the ever-scrutinised Bell a final test of his resolve, buzzing a full length on and around the top of off stump to keep both the slips and short leg in business.

But three deliveries after Broad's departure, it was Morne Morkel who made the critical incision, as Graeme Smith tossed him the ball for a final, furious two-over burst, and with his first delivery he found extra bounce on a perfect length outside off, for Bell to fence dejectedly to Smith himself at first slip. It had been a magnificent performance from Bell, a vindication of his selection as the sixth batsman in England's starting XI, and a continuation of the new-found confidence that he had shown since his breakthrough century on the decisive fourth day at Durban. But just when it seemed he was set to be the hero, he blinked and departed for 78 from 213 balls, and South Africa sensed a sensational turnaround.

But first they had to get through the unlikely tenth-wicket pairing of Onions and Swann, two men who have already shown their ability with the bat in this series. Onions memorably defied Makhaya Ntini for the final six deliveries at Centurion, and he showed he was primed for survival by riding a vicious fifth-ball lifter from Morkel inches short of gully. To add to the drama, Steyn then required physio treatment after seemingly tweaking his hamstring from the first ball of the penultimate over. Though he was fit to continue, he was destined to finish a luckless day with the under-rewarded figures of 2 for 74 in 35 overs.

And so everything, once again, came down to the final over. And just as at Centurion, it was Onions who was left with the job of blocking everything that came his way. Whereas Ntini's skiddy angles had been comparatively easy to negotiate, Morkel's height and pace provided a whole new examination of his grit and resolve, as he jabbed down coolly on a brace of probing yorkers, before hauling his bat inside the line of a snorting bouncer that tempted a desperate Smith to call for his final review in the hope of locating some glove. But one delivery later, Onions left well alone in the channel outside off, before turning to the pavilion and punching his fist in triumph.