I love annoying the opposition: Collingwood

Paul Collingwood, who has played a key role making sure England go into Thursday's fourth and final Test against South Africa 1-0 up in the series, said he loves annoying the opposition with long, defiant innings.

The middle-order batsman hit 50 and 26 not out in the first Test at Centurion, 91 in the innings victory in Durban and 19 and 40 in Cape Town, the latter spanning 188 balls and leading the visitors to a battling draw.

"I might bore a few people but it's a job I enjoy and I love to annoy the opposition," Collingwood told reporters on Tuesday.

"I've always been a fighter, ever since growing up with my brother in my early teens.

"I will always go out there and fight. This whole team has shown that resilience. Obviously you need flair and genius at times but in Test cricket resilience is so important.

"My innings out here have been very special. Centurion was good and in Cape Town I always had the belief we could do it."

Collingwood said his fighting 40 in the third test was worth a century to him and England.

"It was such a big game for us. It's hard to measure these innings, they're not about runs, it's about the time you spend in the middle," he added.

"The attitude you show to the other players, the balls you face. I think those innings are worth a hundred and those innings give me more pleasure than some hundreds."

England finished the opening and third matches with their last pair at the wicket, the first time that has happened twice in the same series in Test cricket.

KALLIS WORRY

South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis said the manner of those two draws could be discouraging for the hosts.

"We have discussed it because the feeling could be that we have dominated the series but somehow haven't managed to get a win," he said. "We are still behind and we could feel hard done by.

"But we have to look to the future, it's useless feeling that way, we need to move on and control what we do going forward. England have never given up and they've managed to get out of tough situations, they've shown fight and character.

"We were in England's situation in Durban and we crumbled ... so we have only ourselves to blame," added Kallis.

Kallis, who has scored two centuries and is the leading run-scorer in the series, praised Collingwood's dogged displays.

"Collingwood has been their rock, they've been able to bat around him. He sums up the situation -- his experience helps there -- and plays accordingly," said the South African.

"He might not be the prettiest batsman but you'd rather take a guy who gets ugly runs and gets the job done than someone who looks good but doesn't perform regularly."