Matthew Hoggard hailed fellow destroyer Andrew Flintoff's Herculean effort as England bowled themselves to the verge of Ashes glory with the help of the London weather.

Flintoff had called for every ounce of energy as Australia resumed on 277 for two in gloomy conditions at the Oval and proceeded to give just that in claiming only his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Lancashire all-rounder Flintoff sent down 14.2 overs in succession to finish with five for 78 while Yorkshire's Hoggard joined in with a spell of four for four from the Vauxhall end either side of lunch as Australia lost their last seven wickets for just 44 runs.

Having already become only the second man in history behind Ian Botham to take 20 wickets and score 300 runs in a series against the Australians, Flintoff raised his tally of victims to 24.

It put England, who reached the close 40 runs to the good with nine wickets in hand after bad light wiped out the majority of the final two sessions, within one good day's batting of a first series win over the old enemy since 1986-87.

"He bowled a magnificent spell," said Hoggard, of Flintoff. "The team-talk today was that we only had one bowling day left and that might mean 98 overs but thankfully Fred put in a Herculean effort and we managed to bowl them out.

"I don't think we could have asked for a better day when we arrived at the ground in the morning.

"We put the ball in the right areas, Australia had to force the pace to get runs on the board and thankfully we bowled them out before they got a lead."

The latest interruptions to the contest means 134 overs have been lost to the contest but neither side is ruling out another nailbiting finish, such has been the drama of this series and the fact Shane Warne - who has 35 wickets so far - is set for one last hurrah.

"It now turns into a one-innings match and they could be chasing a target off 20 overs," warned Hoggard. "It could be another fantastic Test.

"It would be nice to go through the day without losing wickets but this series has always had a twist in the tale.

"We know we will have to bat well, it is by no means over - we are playing the best team in the world and we have a person called Mr Warne to contend with.

"They have one last chance to keep the Ashes."