Britain and Ireland will take a 10-8 lead into the final day of the Seve Trophy match against Continental Europe at El Saler in Spain.
Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, whose debuts began on Thursday with them losing the first six holes, beat Sergio Garcia and Thomas Bjorn two and one in a crucial last foursomes game.
It followed a fine earlier round from Padraig Harrington, playing alongside Colin Montgomerie in the afternoon's foursomes. They defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ignacio Garrido.
Rose settled the fourth, and critical, match with a spectacular tee shot to 18 inches on the 213-yard 17th. The four players then walked all the way to the green, but the closer they got the bigger the smiles on Rose and Poulter's faces - and when they got there Garcia and Bjorn stopped in their tracks, turned and shook hands.
Today's results leave the holders needing just four points from the concluding 10 singles tomorrow.
Britain and Ireland captain Montgomerie will face opposite number Ballesteros in the first of the singles - and will be trying to avoid a third successive defeat against the man now ranked 1,231st in the world.
The Scot talked before the match of giving himself a rest to be fresher for taking on Ballesteros. but having never sat out a session either in Ryder Cup or Seve Trophy, he eventually decided this was not the time to start. It paid off too.
He and Rose birdied the last three holes of their morning greensomes to grab an equally important half against Bjorn and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Meanwhile, Rose and Poulter's success means the five Spanish players in Ballesteros' side - himself included, of course - have yet to win a game in the first contest on Spanish soil.
Continental Europe have had to rely instead on the German-French pair Alex Cejka and Raphael Jacquelin and Swedes Fredrik Jacobson and Niclas Fasth to keep them in with a chance.
Cejka and Jacquelin have a maximum four points so far and in the foursomes inflicted on Lee Westwood his first defeat of the competition. Jacobson and Fasth have won three and halved their other game.