LONDON: Hashim Amla became the sixth batsman in the match to score a century as he saw South Africa to the safety of a draw against England in the first Test at Lord’s here yesterday.
The Proteas, following-on, were 393 for three, a lead of 47, when captain Graeme Smith and England counterpart Michael Vaughan agreed a draw with a minimum of 19 overs left in the opening match of this four-Test series.
Amla was 104 not out and first innings centurion Ashwell Prince nine not out as, for the sixth successive match since Australia’s victory in 2005, a Lord’s Test ended in stalemate.
South Africa kept England in the field for nearly 11-and-a-half hours in their second innings alone and several members of the hosts’ attack looked tired men come the finish — a concerning sight with just a three-day break before the second Test starts at Headingley on Friday. “We do take a lot of momentum from this,” said Amla. “We batted for two days and only lost three wickets. After the first two days we were under a lot of pressure and the guys felt it.” Proteas opener Neil McKenzie was the biggest thorn in England’s side on Monday while making 138 in nine hours and 14 minutes at the crease which saw him face 446 balls with 16 boundaries.
“We let ourselves down. England were a little bit more battle-hardened than we were,” McKenzie said. “It took us an innings when we bowled and an innings when we batted.
“We’ve got away with not being ‘up for it’, the first couple of days,” he added. “When I say ‘not up for it’, mentally we were there we were just sitting back a little bit. I don’t think we are going to be sitting back anymore.” Monty Panesar had taken four for 74 as South Africa were bowled out for 247 in their first innings.
But it was a different story for the left-arm spinner second time around as his 60 overs, the most he’d ever bowled in a Test innings, failed to yield a wicket.
Vaughan, in his own words, “tried every trick in the book,” to take a wicket except bowling himself because of fears his off-spin would exacerbate a longstanding knee injury.
