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Untitled Document
 McKenzie hits ton as Chennai Test ends in a tame draw
30th Mar 2008 20:01 IST
Agencies
Neil McKenzie cracked an unbeaten 155 as the first Test between India and South Africa ended in a tame draw at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today with the last day's play also proving to be a nightmare for bowlers.
The 32-year-old McKenzie, who made 94 in the first innings, continued his amazing comeback to the South African team by batting out the whole day on a docile Chepauk pitch which showed no signs of any drastic deterioration even on the fifth day.
The Indian bowlers needed to put up an extra-ordinary display to pull off an unlikely victory but the wickets were hard to come by as the Proteas played cautiously to score 331/5 before play was called off.
Resuming at the overnight score of 131/1, McKenzie and his overnight partner Hashim Amla (81) batted through most of the morning session to dent India's chances of forcing a result in the high-scoring contest.
Though the Indian bowlers got rid of the dangerous Jacques Kallis (19), Ashwell Prince (5) and AB de Villiers (11) cheaply, McKenzie held up one end with his 445-minute vigil at the crease.
With the pitch offering absolutely no assistance to the bowlers, the batsmen ruled the roost as a whopping 1498 runs were scored by the two teams over five days of Test action which saw many batting records tumble.
McKenzie and Amla steered the visitors to safety with a resolute 153-run second wicket partnership which frustrated the Indian bowlers.
However, Indian captain Anil Kumble succeeded in providing the breakthrough close to lunch by dismissing Amla (81). Forcing Amla stretch forward and misjudge the turn of the ball, the leggie got him caught at lone slip by Rahul Dravid with the team score on 210.
Amla survived two chances when his individual scores were 55 and 72 to Harbhajan Singh and Rudra Pratap Singh. First, he was dropped by S Sreesanth at fine leg when he swept and then R P Singh failed to hold on to the return catch.
The day started on a sedate note, as the Indian bowlers never posed any problem to McKenzie and Amla who stuck to their task, though couple of times, they were beaten by both Harbhajan and Kumble.
The pacers lacked speed and their deliveries coming up slowly after pitching was to the liking of the batsmen.
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