South London's murky weather conditions made another telling contribution towards ending England's long wait for Ashes success, inching the hosts towards their historic prize in the deciding Oval Test.

Bad light restricted play to just 43.1 overs of the fourth day of the crucial final Test and lifted the gloom surrounding 18 years of failure since Mike Gatting's side last captured the little urn in 1986-87.

Needing only to avoid defeat to claim the biggest prize in cricket, England exploited the conditions for the latest Test ever staged on home soil - and the uncertain conditions which naturally follow it - to leave them tantalisingly close to their goal.

Using the dark conditions to claim a surprise six-run first innings lead early on as Australia batted on in a desperate attempt to establish a winning position, England readily accepted the offer to go off for bad light in similar conditions by mid-afternoon.

The decision by umpires Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden to take the teams off because they did not believe it was "fair" for England to bat on despite spinners Shane Warne and Michael Clarke working in tandem stretched Australia's patience to the limit.

Warne stayed out in the middle for several minutes contesting the umpires' decision after England had progressed to 34 for one, a lead of just 40, with a further 53 overs of the day remaining.

His protests were in vain and with the light failing to improve, no further play was possible leaving Australia hoping for a vast improvement in the weather and a sudden England collapse in the 98 overs available if they are to secure the victory which would spoil the Oval's Ashes party on the final day.

Australia had resumed on 277 for two trailing by 96 overnight hoping they could press on to claim a substantial lead and allow Warne to exert his influence on the final day.

That plan was undermined by another stunning display from Flintoff, this time with the ball, to shake Australia's progress and claim a surprise six-run first innings lead after they lost seven wickets for 44 runs in 90 balls.

Bowling unchanged from the Pavilion End for 14.2 overs either side of lunch, Flintoff's determination and hostility earned him five wickets for 78 runs.

Setting the tone from the second over of the day, when a lifting delivery surprised Damien Martyn and induced him into mistiming a pull shot straight to midwicket, Flintoff became the talisman for England's stirring fightback.

Just to prove the Lancashire all-rounder is as fallible as the next man, Flintoff missed a chance at second slip five overs later after Matthew Hoggard induced new batsman Clarke into edging behind.

Shrugging his shoulder at his error, Flintoff did his best to make amends and ended the long resistance of opener Matthew Hayden, who had battled for nearly seven hours for his 138, when he trapped him leg before with a fast, full-length ball.

Simon Katich fell in identical circumstances in his next over to become Flintoff's third wicket in 46 balls and Hoggard increased the pressure on Australia by earning an lbw appeal against Adam Gilchrist shuffling across his crease in the final over before lunch.

Hoggard should have claimed another victim after finishing his over after the break but Clarke, who had progressed to 23, again escaped when inconsistent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones stole a catch from Marcus Trescothick at first slip by diving across him and putting it down.

Undeterred by Jones' fumbling, Flintoff continued to exert the pressure at the other end and bowled a superb spell to Warne - one delivery causing Australia's prolific leg-spinner to declare: "that was too good for me!" - before inducing a mistimed pull which captain Michael Vaughan took at the second attempt after running around from mid-on.

Hoggard cleaned up the tail, finishing the innings by claiming four wickets in 19 balls, to claim the unexpected and slender lead.

But with the light as bad as ever, few expected England to be on the pitch for long in their second innings.

Both umpires conferred about the light after only two overs of the new ball from Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, prompting Ricky Ponting to introduce Warne into the attack from the fourth over of England's reply.

Warne, always likely to be Australia's main threat, struck with his fourth ball to remove Strauss after he propped forward defensively and was caught at short leg off bat and pad.

Any hopes Warne may have had of making further inroads into England's line-up were ended only nine overs later when bad light ended play definitively.

It left Warne frustrated in the middle, knowing his hopes of finishing his Test career in England on a high were fading.