9.55am So, we are five minutes away from the resumption. Here's Matt Roller to kick the action off.

9.43am George Dobell has checked in at the Wanderers. "Yo," he says (How do you do fellow kids?). "Lovely weather, terrible wifi." Well, as long as the coffee machine is working.

On the pitch, George concurs that the weather might open up those cracks. "It's the hottest day of the game, I think, but [survival is] not impossible. A few kept pretty low yesterday though."

Ramble: "Big Vern was also part of that game against India. In fact, he was one of the not out batsmen at the rather anti-climatic conclusion. He and Faf are the last links to that great era for SA cricket. It will take time to rebuild a team with that experience and skill, but it can be done by focusing on what they do have, rather than constantly harping on about Kolpak could-have-beens. Those players made their choices. "

MrGarreth: "Honourable draw? SA have to win this. No one is going to admire them for drawing a match they needed to win. They are not a tier 2 side. I'd rather SA lose by 150 runs in an effort to square the series than bat for 2 days and have nothing to show for it. We're a proud cricketing nation. We are not some lowly team that is just happy to be here. Come one SA. Show some fight." You are a hard man to please MrGarreth. I'd be mighty impressed if they dig their way to anything other than defeat.

9.28am Morning all, welcome to what might conceivably be the last rites of the fourth Test between South Africa and England. The challenge is plain for the hosts - bat out the remaining two days of the contest for a honourable draw, or dig for the most improbable series-squaring victory of them all - a target of 466 is something that they came extraordinarily close to pulling off on this very ground seven years ago. And if that was a hugely different team, then one bloke remains the same. Faf du Plessis will need to find something special if history, of any sort, is to be made, as Mark Boucher admitted last night.

England, however, are overwhelming favourites to wrap up a 3-1 series win, and with the sun set to shine all day, the cracks in the pitch are going to get wider and more prevalent as the day goes on. A few kept low to Joe Root in particular yesterday, and with the likes of Stuart Broad and Mark Wood to exploit them, survival might not be entirely simple.

Cdj: "This does not relevant to this particular match. But in my view Philander could be a game changer for Sri Lankan cricket as a fast bowling coach. Being a small subcontinent country without those big fast bowlers the best way to build a good fast bowling unit would be to focus on accuracy and swing. A art that philander has mastered. " It's quite a cunning notion. He's going to need a new challenge or two now that his fine international career is all but over. A sad end with the ball yesterday, but he's still got one last innings to play.

***

6.24pm Late news on the fitness front, and it's a sad farewell to Test cricket for Vernon Philander, who has been diagnosed with a grade 2 hamstring tear. He bowled just nine balls in his final Test innings, but will be available to bat if required. What a pity. A titan of the South African team for the past decade, he had earned a finer farewell. Here, instead, is Firdose Moonda's send-off to a man who kept the art of medium-pace bowling relevant.

6.11pm So, that's your lot for tonight. England dominant once again, and South Africa's two-day mission begins at 10am local time tomorrow. Can they script the great escape? Well, there is previous at this venue, between these two teams. But that all feels a lifetime ago ... and for many of the combatants in this match, more than a lifetime! Have a read of Valkerie's match report before you go. From myself, Matt and Thilak, goodnight!

On the tempo of England's second innings: "It wasn't how I thought we were going to bat, it wasn't until Stokesy said, 'when I get in, I'm going to take it on...'" says Wood. "Personally I'd have liked more rest. But we've got physios, masseurs ... I'll take anything I can get tonight..." He's certainly earned his rest, however brief!

6.08pm England's run-rate in both innings was over 4.05 ... "Somewhere, Trevor Bayliss is smiling," muses Matt Roller.

Mark Wood: "Since I lengthened my run-up I've got more momentum, which takes pressure off my body. On the days I didn't feel rhythm I was having to force it. I was too stubborn to change it because it had worked up to a point. I wish I'd done it earlier."

Michael Holding, he of the longest run-up of all, was instrumental in advising him to change. "I always tell people, you go to the airport, the plane takes the run-up, but a Harrier Jet burns a lot of fuel to go straight up..." to slightly paraphrase his words on Sky Sports.

6.01pm A couple of minor landmarks brought up in that final flurry. Beuran Hendricks is the 25th South African to take five wickets on Test debut. And Joe Root overtakes Geoff Boycott in terms of 50+ scores. It's his 27th as England captain too.

5.55pm And that is the close of play. England all out for 248 ... a lead of 465. Runs all down the order, with Root's steadfast if rusty 58 the anchor. He was made to look sluggish by his boy-racing team-mates, none of whom seemed to know or care that with two full days left, there's really no need to rush. But England prefer to do things their own way. And frankly, it's hard to say that they've done it wrong.

Niaz: "If you are an English batsman your target is to get 30 runs. Denly does it in one way, Butter and Curran in another." So true...

Graham: "59.6 Root's second fifty of the innings? That would make 100 wouldn't it?" Err... yes

Matt: "Why this attempted quick scoring by England? There's still loads of time left... am I missing something?" Nope... it's just the way they play

Matt: "Wood's from Ashington, so technically speaks 'Pitmatic', not Geordie, but a lot of people would still consider them to be Geordies." How but pet.

Geetha: "How was 58.2 a wide? Umpires too influenced by white ball cricket nowadays. If you don't publish this, you are too." I don't give in to threats Geetha ... oh

A bit of a break as Root appears to have something in his eye, as opposed to having his eye in, which is not entirely true...

Moose: "The Geordie Gilchrist is in full flow..." Not sure he is Geordie, technically, but he ought to be for the alliteration