England were 114 for four in reply to South Africa's first innings of 247 when play ended 20 overs early.
Bad light and two pyrotechnic thunderstorms restricted play to 46.2 overs out of a scheduled 98.
"South Africa came at us harder than at any other time in the series," England opener Andrew Strauss told reporters.
"They gave us very little to hit and you had to be prepared to graft it out because the ball wasn't coming on to the bat."
Much of South Africa's aggression came from fast bowler Andre Nel, who exchanged words with the batsmen regularly and was repeatedly spoken to by the umpires.
"He's fiery, he's at you," Strauss said. "I'm not sure if he was speaking Afrikaans, or what. He's an aggressive character who comes at you pretty hard."
Strauss and Nel engaged in an epic battle that culminated in an over in which Strauss drove Nel through the covers for four, took a vicious steepler on the shoulder and then drove expansively at the last ball to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for 44.
That ended a stand of 85 Strauss shared with Graham Thorpe, who was 32 not out after England had been reduced to 29 for three in the 11th
Six balls later the skies erupted and play was abandoned.
"You could see both storms coming at you, and then it's just a matter of how quickly it reaches you," Strauss said.
"It is off-putting and distracting and you do hear stories of people getting hit by lightning."
But given the position England, who lead the series 2-1, were not complaining about the weather, which also washed out the first day without a ball bowled.
South African captain Graeme Smith said: "We'll do most things to win a Test match, but taking on lightning is not something we're used to.
"We had a lot of momentum, but it was stop-start after lunch because of the weather."
Smith agreed that his team were at their most fiery on Sunday. "It's the most aggressive we've been in the series, because with five fast bowlers you can attack for a lot longer," he said.
"(Shaun) Pollock and (Makhaya) Ntini started off perfectly, and we had good back-up from Nel."
