Flaccid finish is leaving more questions than answers

Whatever happens over the last couple of days of this series - and it will take a bit of a miracle to deny South Africa a consolation victory - it seems England will finish their winter of Test action with just about as many questions to answer as they had at the start.

It would be harsh to suggest that England, victors in South Africa for the first time in more than a decade, have failed to make any progress. They have seen Steven Finn cement his position as first-choice third seamer and Ben Stokes develop both as a batsman (he has scored more runs than any other England player in this series) and as a bowler (among England's bowlers, only Stuart Broad has taken more wickets). And Jonny Bairstow has proven himself as a batsman, if not yet as a Test-quality wicketkeeper.

But the holes that existed before exist still. Alex Hales has not convinced as opening position, Nick Compton has not made himself impossible to drop at No. 3, while James Taylor, despite his outstanding fielding at short-leg, has averaged a modest 30 in his four-and-a-half Tests this winter. All three may yet go a long way towards proving themselves in their final innings of this series but, as things stand, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell will feel that, if they start the domestic season well, they have a strong chance of a recall.

Perhaps that is harsh on Compton. His batting went a long way to winning the Durban Test and he was pretty much blameless for his first innings lbw here. He may still be England's best bet as an opening partner for Alastair Cook, though that would leave a question over who should bat at No. 3. Joe Root is one option, but it may be weakening a strength to move him from the No. 4 position where he has dominated.

Equally, England started the winter with questions over Jos Buttler as keeper, and end them with questions over Bairstow as keeper. Bairstow has missed seven of the 23 chances he has been offered in the series and, in failing to cling on to his opportunities - a couple of them tough - by the three centurions in this game (Hashim Amla on 5, Quinton de Kock on 80 and Stephen Cook on 47) he could be argued to have cost his side 221 runs. England's catching will have to improve if they are to progress up the world rankings.

Moeen Ali, meanwhile, despite a pleasing innings here - his first Test half-century since the Edgbaston Ashes Test in July, 15 innings ago - has averaged 19 with the bat and 45.47 with the ball over the two series against Pakistan and South Africa. Chris Woakes has one last chance on the fourth morning to prove himself with the ball while Jimmy Anderson, while still all but certain to play against Sri Lanka, would love to prove that he no longer requires help from English-style conditions to prosper. It is not so long ago that he was England best bowler in the UAE.

There was little wrong with England's batting here. Of the top seven, only Taylor - trying to hook a ball for eight - and, to a lesser extent, Hales, had cause to regret their choice of shot. The rest of them were out to fine deliveries on an increasingly tricky surface. Maybe one or two of them could have left the balls they edged, but when some balls are shooting and others rearing, batting is far from easy.

England's problem is that they conceded at least 100 more runs than they should have done in South Africa's first innings. Their bowling in the first two sessions of the match and their failure to accept chances in the field allowed South Africa to establish a lead that is likely to prove decisive. With the variable bounce likely to become more pronounced as the game progresses, a target of 250 in the fourth innings could prove desperately difficult.

"It's going to be tough," Moeen Ali, who reckoned England could chase 300, admitted after play on day three. "There are a lot of cracks. There is up and down movement and a bit of spin as well. We're going to have to play extremely well to get anything out of this game.

"We're going to have to bowl them out quickly in the morning and then bat really well.

"We dropped a lot of catches. A lot of very important catches. Three guys made hundreds and we dropped all three of them."

The highest fourth-innings total here in a Test is England's 251 for 8 in January 2000. In reality, though, that was the second innings of the now-notorious match in which both sides forfeited an innings. In a more conventional situation, the highest fourth-innings total is England's 228 for 9 in 2009, in which they clung on by their fingernails for a draw. The highest total to win in a match where all four innings occurred is South Africa's 226 for 4 in 1998. History is not on England's side.

The only chink of light from an England perspective is the possibility that South Africa may be reduced to a two-man seam attack. Kyle Abbott was forced off the pitch with a hamstring strain towards the end of England's innings and may well be unable to bowl in their second. That would leave a heavy burden on Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel but, with the pitch turning and Rabada fast emerging as Dale Steyn's long-term replacement, England will still face a desperately tough challenge.