Amla salutes South Africa's crown Prince

Amla, who also made a century at Lord's, was the only man dismissed Saturday when lbw for 38 to England's Australia-raised but Grimsby-born debutant pace bowler Darren Pattinson.

South Africa have been a transformed team since being made to follow-on at Lord's and have so far piled up 715 runs for the loss of seven wickets since being bowled out for just 247 in their first innings of this four-Test series. Amla, asked what had changed, replied: "At Lord's, in the first innings maybe we didn't apply ourselves as well. Maybe we were a little overwhelmed.

"But in this Test, we were battle-hardened. We just tried to up the tempo."

England have spent 365 overs in the field during the past five days, with just a three-day break between the first two Tests.

"All I know is that I would be feeling stiff," said Amla. "It does feel close, especially when you spend one day travelling, but I understand this is the nature of international cricket.

"It's a tough school and at the end of the day you've got to be fit enough to deal with it."

Pattinson's selection has proved controversial.