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England opener Dom Sibley says he slept for only three hours before making his maiden Test ton on day four of the second Test against South Africa.

Resuming on 85, Sibley reached three figures off 269 balls before ending on 133 not out as England declared on 391-8 to set the hosts a record 438 to win.

South Africa held firm to reach 126-2 at the close, still needing 312, but England are favourites for victory to level the four-Test series at 1-1.

"I slept terribly," said Sibley.

"I went to sleep at 11pm, woke up at 2am and just watched TV until the alarm went off at 7am but it's all worth it now."

Sibley, 24, told the Test Match Special podcast that bringing up his century with a sweep for four off Keshav Maharaj was an "amazing moment".

"I've dreamed millions of times about scoring a hundred for England and that was better than I'd dreamed," he said.

"I saw them bring the fielder up so thought I'd sweep anything full and knew that even if I top-edged it, it would go over, but to middle it to the rope was amazing."

Sibley scored 20 in a 92-run stand with Ben Stokes for the fifth wicket as the England all-rounder smashed 72 off 47 balls in a stunning onslaught.

"Ben definitely took some pressure off me, those 15 runs felt like millions, but it meant I could take my time and wasn't under pressure to score at a certain rate," said Sibley.

"The ball striking and the shot he played, it was a pleasure to watch from the other end.

"It was a case of doing the right things on day three and setting the foundation for the guys to come in and give it a whack so the hard work was done yesterday and the topping was today."

South Africa's top order played well to frustrate England in the final two sessions, with debutant Pieter Malan remaining unbeaten on 63.

But James Anderson dismissed Zubayr Hamza for 18 in the penultimate over to boost England's bid for victory on the final day.

"It's going to be hard graft," said Sibley.

"Getting that second wicket tonight was a massive bonus, it gives us a boot of energy and we're excited to get going tomorrow."

South Africa opener Dean Elgar, who edged part-time spinner Joe Denly behind for 34, said his side are still in contention to win the Test.

"It can go either way at the moment, the game is evenly poised," he told Sky Sports.

"The wicket is playing nicely - it flattened out yesterday.

"We need two or three guys to grind it out and we have batters in the shed who can do that. We have to start well."