England captain Michael Vaughan criticised the umpires for inconsistency after bad light brought the rain-interrupted second day of the fourth Test against South Africa to a premature close on Friday.
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The umpires had offered the light to the batsmen three overs earlier, but they decided to stay on the field.
"I'm wondering why we're not out there now," said Vaughan, half-an-hour after stumps with the sun still shining. "It's always tricky when there's cloud cover, but we thought we batted in differing conditions around midday.
"All we ask for is consistency and we don't think there's been consistent decisions made today.
"When the fielding side is in a bit of trouble you'd expect them to ask the umpires, any captain would, but it's up to the umpires to make a decision."
South African team spokesman Gerald de Kock denied captain Graeme Smith, or any other team member, had approached the umpires about the light.
"I spoke to Steve Bucknor and he told me that he and Aleem Dar had discussed the light and made the decision that it was too bad to continue. There was no request from the South African side," De Kock said.
Vaughan said he was delighted with his team's position at stumps after they earlier lost five wickets for 16 runs.
"We're in a great position considering the conditions we were asked to bat in today, on a wicket that was offering seam and swing. Harmison and I were delighted to take every run.
"Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini had bowled so many overs towards the end that they must have been quite tired, and Ashley Giles and Steve deserve credit for the crucial role they played in changing the momentum of the game."
Giles scored 26 in an eighth-wicket stand of 51 with Vaughan, while Harmison finished the day on 30 not out.
Pollock said much of South Africa's initiative had been wrested away in the final session.
"I thought Michael Vaughan played well, but Harmison and Giles chanced their arms and got away with it, but that's how you'd expect them to play on that sort of pitch," said Pollock.
"They brought the attack to us and hit some boundaries. They weren't all great shots, but they were effective."
