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England looking good
13:45, Dec 20 2009
Kevin Pietersen kept England on course for a draw with an unbeaten half-century as they tried to bat out the final day at Centurion.
Pietersen (57 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 96 with the stoic Jonathan Trott to help the tourists to a mid-afternoon 123 for three in the first Test.
Set a notional 364 to win by South Africa, that was out of reasonable calculations as England began on 11 for one.
Survival was instead the key and, with nightwatchman James Anderson gone early, Alastair Cook was also out of the equation after a stand of 11 runs in more than 10 overs with Trott.
From a dicey 27 for three, Trott and Pietersen then raised hopes England would achieve a stalemate in this see-saw match and therefore arrive in Durban for the Boxing Day Test level with three to play.
Pietersen was by far the more adventurous of the fourth-wicket pair, Trott having already taken 13 balls to get off the mark before he was joined by his fellow South African-born batsman and going on to need more than an hour before he managed his first four.
Anderson lasted only until the third over of a bright but cooler day before flicking a catch behind down the leg-side off Friedel de Wet.
Then Cook, facing his first ball of the day from the slow left-armer, pushed forward and gloved more turn - via his pad - into the hands of Graeme Smith at backward short-leg.
Pietersen kept England moving, though, and mixed in seven fours in a 76-ball 50 that put England in promising shape.
His only moment of significant fortune came on 39 when De Wet would surely have had him lbw with a 'grubber' had umpire Steve Davis not correctly spotted a no-ball.
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