CAPE TOWN, 7 January 2005 — Spinner Nicky Boje and seamer Shaun Pollock took four wickets each as South Africa crushed England by 196 runs on the final afternoon of the third Test to level the series.

England, unbeaten for more than a year but set an unlikely 501 to win in just over five sessions, were dismissed for 304.

Left-arm spinner Boje, who missed the first Test after having surgery on a cancerous thyroid gland, took four for 71 from 34 overs, while metronomic fast bowler Pollock picked up four for 65 from 31 overs as the home side dominated in all departments. England No. 11 Steve Harmison showed up his teammates by top-scoring with a run-a-ball 42 and putting on 51 for the last wicket with Matthew Hoggard.

England’s batsmen, however, effectively lost the game in the first innings when they were skittled for 163 on a blameless track.

“South Africa played the better cricket over the five day and put us under a lot of pressure,” England skipper Michael Vaughan said.

The series now stands at 1-1. England won 11 of 13 Tests in 2004, drawing the other two. Their last defeat was against Sri Lanka in Colombo in December 2003.

They had resumed on 151 for five and soon lost their last specialist batsman when South Africa took the new ball in the fourth over.

Pollock drifted a delivery into the left-handed Graham Thorpe which left after pitching and was edged to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers. Thorpe made 26. Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles kept South Africa at bay for almost an hour and a half with a stand of 62 but they were parted 15 balls before lunch when Boje had Giles caught by Jacques Kallis at first slip for 25 with a classic delivery.

Two balls before lunch Kallis dived to his left to take a brilliant one-handed catch in the same position to dismiss Jones for 38.

Hoggard and Simon Jones survived until the ninth over after lunch, when Jones, on 19, edged Pollock to Kallis at second slip.

Harmison, struggling to live up to his reputation as a bowler in the series, then produced his unlikely cameo over 12 overs, recording a career-best score. When Pollock sought to rough up Harmison he responded with a cut and pull for four as 18 came off the over, leaving Pollock grinning broadly. The match ended 20 overs after lunch when Harmison was caught by Boje in the gully off Makhaya Ntini. He hit seven fours and a six.

The fourth Test starts in Johannesburg next Thursday.