South Africa, resuming on 63 for five needing a further 139 runs to claim an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series, slumped to 131 all out despite a battling 52 from Mark Boucher.

Debutant Kirtley finished with six for 34 to help level the series and put England in pole position considering Shaun Pollock will not be available for the fourth Test at Headingley which starts on Thursday.

Kirtley began the collapse by striking with the 34th ball of the day to remove Neil McKenzie, who had battled for 88 minutes for his 11 on a deteriorating pitch. McKenzie erroneously went back, but the delivery kept low and struck off-stump.

Eight balls later Andrew Flintoff removed Pollock in almost identical fashion before he had scored, once again the ball keeping low and removing off-stump.

England claimed their third wicket in 13 balls in Kirtley's next over when Andrew Hall also fell without scoring, this time to his first delivery, when he attempted to drive wildly off the front foot and edged straight to Marcus Trescothick at first slip.

Just as the enthusiastic Trent Bridge crowd sensed a quick England triumph, however, they encountered stubborn resistance from South Africa's ninth wicket partnership with Boucher and Paul Adams combining in a 45-run stand spanning 14 overs.

Boucher hit a superb half-century - the highest by any player on either side in the second innings - and guided Adams through a testing spell as South Africa progressed to within 100 of the victory total.

But with only 25 minutes to go before lunch, Michael Vaughan recalled Kirtley to the attack and he struck with his fourth ball to end Adams' stubborn resistance when he propped forward and offered a simple return catch and give the Sussex seamer five wickets on his debut.

Kirtley completed England's victory in his next over when Boucher's determined innings was ended when he pushed forward and edged behind to wicketkeeper Alec Stewart to start England's celebration.

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