JOHANNESBURG, 17 January 2005 — Marcus Trescothick hit his second century of the series as England went in search of a win on the fourth day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium yesterday.
Trescothick made 101 not out as England reached 197 for five, an overall lead of 189, when bad light stopped play for the day.
The left-handed opener led an aggressive batting performance but the momentum slowed when three wickets fell for 11 runs in four overs shortly before Trescothick reached his tenth Test century.
When thunderclouds came over the ground the batsmen accepted an offer from the umpires to go off with 14.4 overs still due to be bowled.
South Africa were led in the field for much of the innings by vice captain Nicky Boje after captain Graeme Smith suffered concussion when he was hit on the head by a ball during fielding practice before the day’s play.
It was initially announced that Smith would take no further part in the day’s play but he came on 42 minutes after tea.
Boje earlier led a strong performance by the tail, hitting 48 as South Africa’s last three wickets added 113 runs to enable the home side to take an eight-run first innings lead.
Matthew Hoggard, who took five for 144, dismissed Shaun Pollock with the second ball of the day and had Boje, on four, dropped off an inside edge by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones three balls later. The miss proved costly as Boje shared in partnerships of 52 for the eighth wicket with Herschelle Gibbs and 41 for the ninth with Makhaya Ntini.
Gibbs took his overnight score of 136 to 161 before he was caught by Hoggard at third man off a top-edged cut against James Anderson.
Andrew Strauss, who had scored 612 runs at an average of 102 in his previous seven innings, slashed at Ntini’s first ball in the second over of England’s second innings and AB de Villiers held a sharp shoulder-high chance at third slip. But his opening partner Trescothick kept the score moving rapidly. He and Robert Key put on 49 for the second wicket before he was joined by captain Michael Vaughan in a stand of 124 for the third wicket. Vaughan made his second half-century of the match but when he edged an outswinger from Pollock to be caught behind for 54 it sparked a minor collapse.
