Elements conspire to Durban draw

A boxing day Test match that had almost everything imaginable drew to a close with the final blow from the umpires' light meters, with England needing a further two wickets and South Africa 88 runs to win the match. In a game where England seemingly could do nothing but lose at the close of play on the first and second day, the fact that seemingly only the elements prevented them recording nine straight wins speaks volumes for the team spirit and fighting qualities of the side, while South Africa - having seemed certainties to level the series at 1-1, will be thankful to go to Cape Town just one behind.

Following Matthew Hoggard's strike late in the evening of day four, South Africa's slim hopes of a victory charge receded further into the realms of hypotheses as Herschelle Gibbs and night-watchman Nicky Boje started the day watchfully. Nonetheless, neither the pitch nor the sun-drenched atmosphere showed any sign of hidden demons as neither batsman looked unduly troubled until the introduction of Andy Flintoff had immediate effect.

The Lancashire all-rounder extracted a degree of extra bounce from the wicket to surprise the left-handed Boje, and Graham Thorpe at short leg clung on to his 100th catch in Test cricket. A double strike from Steve Harmison in the final half-hour of the morning session then virtually extinguished any flickering hopes the hosts held of an unlikely triumph as the two big guns of Gibbs and first-innings centurion Jacques Kallis perished to unconvincing flails on the off side. Gibbs directed a cut straight to Ashley Giles in the gully, and Kallis - clearly feeling the effects of his marathon 162 followed by two days in the field - slashed a drive to Geraint Jones behind the stumps.

With Jacques Rudolph and Martin van Jaarsveld at the wicket, England had forced an opening having removed the biggest guns of the home side. However, it was the two middle-order men who wrestled the game back from England's control with a series of cuts, drives and flicks to add 69 in under 16 overs. Ashley Giles, unable to bowl in the first innings following back spasms, lacked rhythm and consistency and was milked at over four an over before Rudolph fell to a combination of the Warwickshire left-armer and Andrew Strauss at short-leg, via the pad and another part of his body. Glove or not, Rudolph was on his way back to the pavilion.

Number seven Hashim Amla's Test career before this innings stood at 24, 2 and 1. Two balls later, it was 24, 2, 1 and 0 as Simon Jones trapped him in front of the wickets with one that darted back off a crack, and van Jaarsveld soon followed to Matthew Hoggard's first ball after his re-introduction for Giles, a deft guide to the hands of Marcus Trescothick at second slip, Vaughan having left the first slip position empty. South Africa were 183-7 with 44 overs left to survive.

Abraham Benjamin "AB" de Villiers and Shaun Pollock were the men charged with holding the fort against an England side tiring under the Durban sun, with just Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn left to come in. England were odds-on, but the two lower order men hung on grimly and de Villiers recorded his first Test fifty as England took the new ball with 21 overs to spare and cloud cover closing around Kingsmead. As they took drinks at 4.06pm, local time, the equation was simple yet captivating. 113 runs, three wickets, 19 overs, 84 minutes, rain, and bad light - all had the potential to end 2004's Test cricket in their own manner, but which was to prevail?

Steve Harmison struck Shaun Pollock on the left hand twice in the space of two deliveries with well-directed bounce, but as the over count receded to 17, South Africa had forced the draw to the shortest prices in the betting markets. De Villiers then flicked Hoggard wide of Simon Jones at mid-on and called Pollock through for a single, before deciding against it. With Pollock stranded mid-pitch, Jones - with one stump to aim at - pulled off a direct hit to end a crucial 85-run partnership. However, with the cloud increasing and light failing, it seemed too late for England to complete their comeback.

Makhaya Ntini seemed to have little difficulty in picking up Steve Harmison, however, as he struck him over mid-wicket for four, before collecting two more boundaries off the edge, and another four digging out a yorker before umpires Darrell Hair and Simon Taufel decided that the light had become too poor to continue.

For a Test match that swung from South Africa, back to the balance, back to South Africa as they struck three times on the fourth morning and finally to England to be finally decided by the closing Durban clouds robs it of a place in the list of truly great Tests of all-time. Yet it does define the year 2004 for England (Played 13, Won 11, Drawn 2) as one where they seemingly shed their perennial nature of defeat.

Come next Sunday in Cape Town, England will be determined to finish the tak that eluded them at Kingsmead and establish a 2-0 lead with two Tests remaining. England are likely to be unchanged once more, but South Africa will once again ask questions. Dale Steyn's second innings nightmare may open the door for Charl Langeveldt's Test debut, whilst Hashim Amla is highly unlikely to retain his place following a match aggregate of one, with Zander de Bruyn and Boeta Dippenaar in contention. There's also the possibility of a return for Thami Tsolekile - you never can tell what the quota system might do.

England 139
AJ Strauss 25, GO Jones 24
SM Pollock 4-32, M Ntini 3-41
South Africa 332
JH Kallis 162, SM Pollock 43
MJ Hoggard 3-58, SJ Harmison 3-91
England 570-7
AJ Strauss 136, ME Trescothick 132
M Ntini 2-111, GC Smith 1-27
South Africa 290-8
JA Rudolph 61, AB de Villiers 52*
MJ Hoggad 2-58, SJ Harmison 2-62

Match Drawn
England lead the series 1-0

CricketWeb Players of the Match
Jacques Kallis - 162
Andrew Strauss - 136
Graeme Thorpe - 118*
Marcus Trescothick - 132


Posted by Neil