Australia coach John Buchanan refused to use the weather as an excuse for a poor fourth day at The Oval, admitting that England hero Andrew Flintoff deserved credit for his efforts.

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

The Lancashire all-rounder sent down 14.2 overs in succession to finish with five for 78 while Yorkshire's Matthew 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.

Despite being forced to turn down an offer for bad light from umpires Billy Bowden and Rudi Koertzen because of the circumstances of needing to win to cling on to the urn, Buchanan insisted it was a combination of Flintoff's brilliance and determination rather than poor visibility which resulted in the innings' demise.

"We were keen to maintain the way we were batting," said Buchanan. "If the light had got so bad that our batsmen felt it was time to leave the crease they would have done that.

"But they felt pretty comfortable out there right from the word go.

"It wasn't necessarily a case of bad light that saw our wickets fall; great credit to Flintoff who took the ball from one end and pounded in.

"He wanted to change the course of our batting and he did with the initial breakthroughs."

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.

Buchanan added: "We have always got a chance, it is obviously a little bit more difficult than when we were all out because there were more than 150 overs left. Now there are 98.

"But the players are keen and we will try to take all the wickets we can."