ENGLAND discovered yet again yesterday that Jacques Kallis is one of Test cricket’s most immovable batsmen.

Andrew Strauss’ team had South Africa 127 for five by mid-afternoon after asking them to bat first in the third Test at Newlands.

Yet by stumps Kallis was unbeaten on 108 out of 279 for six, taking his first-innings tally from three attempts so far in this series to 303 runs.

England’s attack could only reflect on the unenviable task they face trying to shift him – and it fell to James Anderson to voice their collective mixture of admiration and exasperation.

‘‘He’s very focused when he bats and very difficult to bowl at,’’ said the Lancastrian, who got rid of South Africa openers Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince but again drew a blank with Kallis.

He is not about to beat himself up about it, though.

‘‘You’ve just got to deal with it. You come across these players in Test cricket,’’ he added.

‘‘He’s definitely up there for me (with the best). The lateness that he plays the ball is incredible – and even when the ball is reversing he can pick it, which makes it even harder.

‘‘He’s very patient.Playing the ball so late makes it difficult on such a slow pitch to try to find an edge.’’ Anderson had no qualms with Strauss’ decision to put South Africa in, under heavy cloud cover after overnight and morning rain, despite an end product which owed so much to Kallis.

‘‘I’d say it was a very good decision to bowl first. The conditions this morning were very bowler-friendly,’’ he said.

‘‘In the warm-up, it was swinging a lot – and with the rain around as well it was a very easy choice for us to bowl.

‘‘We’re happy with the decision.

They’ve played really well; Kallis played unbelievably well.’’ England might have made quicker progress had Graeme Swann not put down a straightforward slip catch to see off Smith for just a single.

‘‘We found out quite early that there was nothing for bowling short,’’ Anderson said.

‘‘It was just sitting up, with tennis-ball bounce, so we tried to bowl a little bit fuller.

‘‘If that catch had stuck, maybe we could have got a few more. But I think we bowled pretty well in the morning.’’ As for England’s prospects for the remainder of a match in which their hosts need to avoid defeat to stay alive in the series, Anderson predicted: ‘‘The new ball in the morning is going to be crucial.

‘‘We’re going to really have to hit our straps early doors and try to get rid of Kallis.’’ There were three half-century stands involving Kallis, most importantly perhaps his sixth-wicket alliance of 89 with Mark Boucher (51).

The South Africa wicketkeeper paid tribute to both Kallis – also his next-door neighbour – and Anderson on a day he believes ended ‘‘50- 50’’.

‘‘James is a very good bowler, and on a wicket like that, where the odd ball does a bit, he’s going to put batting sides under pressure,’’ said Boucher.

‘‘He’s the sort of bowler you almost feel you can get on top of at some stage; then he’ll bowl one ball that will be unplayable.

‘‘We were 50 for three and 120-odd for five, and we played some dirty cricket to get back into it. Our tail is wagging, and we hope that continues.’’ Boucher’s naturally aggressive batting is a perfect complement to Kallis’ more studied approach.

‘‘I enjoy batting with Jacques and I know he is safe at the other end,’’ he explained.

‘‘I think we have played enough Tests between the two of us to know when a side is under pressure you sometimes need to counter-attack.

‘‘On that sort of wicket we felt the best way to play it was to try and put the pressure back on them and chance our arm a bit.

‘‘It came off to a certain extent.

I would have liked to have carried on.”