Defiant England hold on to a draw

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: December 21, 2009

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Centurion: England’s number 11, Graham Onions, played out a tense final over from Makhaya Ntini, as England managed to hold on to a draw on the fifth day of the first test match against South Africa.

Earlier, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen batted for more than three hours, adding 145 for the fourth wicket and at that stage, it seemed like the match was going to end in a draw. But South Africa’s debutante fast bowler, Friedel de Wet, produced an inspired spell of fast bowling with the second new ball to bring the home team back into the game.

De Wet bowled a spell of 3 for 3 off five overs in his spell with the second new ball during which he dismissed the well-set Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Matt Prior. He also ran Pietersen out with a direct hit.

England had a massive batting collapse, losing as many as five wickets in the final 15 overs but Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions ensured that they survived the final 20 balls to draw the game.

Trott, who came to the wicket in just the third over of the day after the dismissal of night watchman James Anderson, defied the South African bowlers for 317 minutes in a patient knock of 69 for which he faced 212 balls. Pietersen, on the other hand, was the more aggressive partner, making 81 off 143 balls.

The partnership, which had almost ensured a draw, was broken two overs after tea when Pietersen pushed the ball into the covers and set off for a suicidal run and De Wet had enough time to run him out at the batsman’s end.

Trott, however, continued his vigil until the second new ball was taken, with just over an hour’s play remaining.

De Wet just transformed into a completely different bowler with the new ball making the hard new ball fly off a good length. Soon after the new ball was taken, De Wet made one rise on to Trott, hitting his right glove and deflected to third slip where AB de Villiers completed a diving catch.

Four overs later, De Wet got Ian Bell to edge one to wicket-keeper Mark Boucher. England were six down with a maximum of 10.4 overs remaining. Matt Prior also fell to a catch behind off De Wet before Stuart Broad was dismissed caught behind off left-arm spinner Paul Harris and Graeme Swann was trapped in front of the wickets by Morne Morkel.

But Paul Collinwood, who batted for 159 minutes and faced 99 balls for his 26, and Graham Onions, who survived 12 balls, made sure that England escaped with a draw.

The match reminded everyone of the first Ashes test that England played against Australia earlier this year in Cardiff. Even then, England were nine down at the end chasing the target of 364, finishing at 228 for 9 and even then, it was Paul Collingwood, who held on and denied Australia the victory.

The two teams now move to Durban for the second test which starts on December 26th.

Match Summary:

England 356 (Swann 81, Harris 5-123) and 228 for 9 (Pietersen 81, Trott 69) drew with South Africa 418 (Kallis 120, Swann 5-110) and 301 for 6 dec (Amla 100)

Man of the Match: Graeme Swann

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