Marcus Trescothick added an unbeaten half-century to his first-innings double century as England won the final Test by nine wickets at The Oval to level the series and deny South Africa a slice of history.

The left-handed opener cracked a quickfire 69 as England raced to their victory target of 110 during the afternoon session on the final day at a near-capacity Oval on Monday.

Trescothick stole the headlines from Martin Bicknell and Steve Harmison, who both took four wickets to skittle the South Africans for 229 in their second innings during the first hour.

The touring side, hoping for another extraordinary rearguard action and seeking their first series win in England since 1965, had resumed on 185 for six, just 60 ahead.

Bicknell, aged 34 and recalled for the fourth Test after a decade on the sidelines, took two wickets in two balls in his second over to all but kill off South African dreams in front of a near-capacity crowd.

Harmison, finding a perfect length to go with his bounce, capped his best performance for England by removing Shaun Pollock for 43 and Makhaya Ntini.

Harmison took four for 33 off 19.2 overs to Bicknell's four for 84.

No England side has won a home Test before after conceding so many runs -- 484 -- in the first innings.

Scoreboard

South Africa (1st innings): 484 (H.Gibbs 183, G.Kirsten 90, J.Kallis 66, S.Pollock 66)

England (1st innings): 604-9 declared (M.Trescothick 219, G.Thorpe 124, A.Flintoff 95)

South Africa (2nd innings): (overnight 185-6)
G.Smith lbw Bicknell 19
H.Gibbs c Stewart b Anderson 9
G.Kirsten c Trescothick b Harmison 29
J.Kallis lbw Harmison 35
N.McKenzie lbw Flintoff 38
J.Rudolph b Bicknell 8
M.Boucher c Stewart b Bicknell 25
S.Pollock c Thorpe b Harmison 43
A.Hall c Smith b Bicknell 0
P.Adams not out 13
M.Ntini c Smith b Harmison 1

Extras (b-1, lb-7, nb-1): 9

Total (all out, 69.2 overs): 229

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-34, 3-92, 4-93, 5-118, 6-150, 7-193, 8-193, 9-215

Bowling: Bicknell 24-5-84-4, Anderson 10-1-55-1, Harmison 19.2-8-33-4 (nb-1), Giles 10-2-36-0, Flintoff 6-2-13-1

England (2nd innings):
M.Trescothick not out 69
M.Vaughan c Boucher b Kallis 13
M.Butcher not out 20

Extras (lb-4, nb-4): 8

Total (for one wicket, 22.2 overs): 110

Fall of wicket: 1-47

Did not bat: G.Thorpe, E.Smith, A.Stewart, A.Flintoff, M.Bicknell, A.Giles, S.Harmison, J.Anderson.

Bowling: Pollock 6-0-15-0 (nb-3), Ntini 8-0-46-0 (nb-1), Kallis 5.2-0-25-1, Adams 3-0-20-0

Result: England won by nine wickets

First Test: Match drawn

Second Test: South Africa won by an innings and 92 runs

Third Test: England won by 70 runs

Fourth Test: South Africa won by 191 runs

Fifth Test: England won by nine wickets

Series drawn 2-2