Sport

England needs 197 on final day to win fourth Test

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen’s England needs only 197 to win the fourth and final Test against South Africa but the Boks batsmen put up such a stern resistance on day four that a third victory in a series they have dominated cannot be ruled out.

England found that every batsman had sworn not to sacrifice his wicket and that AB de Villiers, always a bolted door on this tour, clung on like a limpet. He made a fine 97 spread over nearly four hours; rearguard batting at its best.

De Villiers and tail-ender Paul Harris put on 95 for the eighth wicket even though Harris was bombarded by the England quick bowlers. The total of 318 left England with 23 overs and a full fifth day in which to reach the small target but rain came as soon as its second innings began and there was no further play.

If the South African bowlers put up a performance to match the fighting spirit of their batsmen, England will certainly struggle even though in Pietersen’s first match as Test captain it has shown more get-up-and-go than at any time since the first two days of the series.

The fourth day was always going to be a run-free struggle and only 58 were scored before lunch. Steve Harmison showed what England had been missing in the first three Tests.

Harmison began with a spell of eight overs which cost him just 12 runs, he had a run of three successive maidens and he prised out both Hamish Amla and Jacques Kallis, the batsmen South Africa could not afford to lose.

Amla had seemed so assured that his dismissal came as a shock when he edged a ball into the gloves of the diving Tim Ambrose. It had been an unhappy morning for Ambrose who could not open a newspaper without reading that he was timid, out of form and not likely to keep his place when the squad for India was chosen.

Ten overs later, Pietersen was thinking it was about time for a change and so failed to latch on to a catch from Kallis low to his left. Flintoff roughed up Ashwell Prince and then saw him flick at a wide ball straight to first slip. At lunch, South Africa was 45 ahead with half its batsmen out but the sixth wicket did not fall until that lead had increased to 78. Mark Boucher, just the man for a crisis, spooned a ball from Anderson into the offside after an hour spent collecting 12 runs.

De Villiers became entrenched once again but Morne Morkel showed no signs of hanging around before being caught at short leg unable to control Monty Panesar’s flighted spin. The new ball was taken at 241 for seven as de Villiers opened his rarely-seen array of attacking shots. He found a brave partner in Paul Harris and the pair added95 before the last three wickets fell for five runs.

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