Second test draw keeps South Africans ahead in series despite Pietersen century

England went in to this test looking to settle the tide and claw themselves back in to the series after being well-beaten in the first test by a powerful South African team.

A slightly changed squad saw Graeme Swann and Ravi Bopara excluded for Steven Finn and James Taylor respectively, the latter a debutant for England after his first-class exploits for Nottinghamshire.

In a rain-hit second test at Headingley, South Africa were quick out of the blocks on day one, frustrating England with Alviro Petersen striking an unbeaten 124, leaving England to rue dropping him on 29.

It was a disappointing morning for the English, but they hit back in the afternoon and evening sessions with a combined five wickets.

South African captain Smith got his half century (52) before Amla (9) and Kallis (19) both fell cheaply.

The tourists ended day one on 262-5 after Stuart Broad made a late breakthrough to take De Villiers (47) and Finn saw off the nightwatchman Steyn for a duck.

The Proteas finished their first innings on 419 after Petersen made a career best Test score of 182.

Similar to the first day, England’s bowlers were being frustrated and only took one wicket before lunch.

The final three wickets were taken with more ease, however, they did concede 66 runs with them.

England captain and opener Andrew Strauss did well to negotiate a difficult new ball alongside Alastair Cook and finished the day on 48-0 hoping to continue the fight back on day three.

Day three was all about South African-born England batsman Kevin Pietersen who hit a majestic unbeaten 149 from 212 balls.

His 21st Test century included 22 fours and a six, which saw England claw back the deficit.

As with Alviro Petersen, Pietersen was also dropped early on in his innings shortly after he made his half century.

More rain forced an early lunch and wickets fell soon after.

This left England 246 adrift at 173-4. Debutant James Taylor offered a decent 34 as well as other players getting in but falling short, including Strauss (37), Cook (24) and Trott (35).

This left England 351-5 at the close, looking to bat the majority of day four to put South Africa under meaningful pressure.

Further rain caused frustration to both sides as a draw became a likely outcome.

The tourists hit hard at the start as Pietersen fell for 149 to the second ball of the day before a tough 68 for wicket-keeper Prior pushed England to 425 all out.

This gave them a first innings lead of six. South African captain was fit to field after an awkward landing on day three, but Alviro Peterson refrained from batting as Rudolph moved up the order.

A slow end to day four left South Africa close on 39-0 with a full last day of batting ahead to ensure the draw to keep them one up in the series.

The excitement was kept for day five, with the tourists resuming on 33 runs ahead.

Part-time spinner Kevin Pietersen took a Test-best 3-52 as all three results looked available at one point in the day.

Another morning disrupted by rain did not give much entertainment for the small crowd at Headingley, but soon after lunch the wickets fell and left South Africa declaring on 258-9 after great bowling spells by Pietersen and Stuart Broad (5-69).

This left England needing 253 in the remaining 39 overs as they send in centurion Pietersen to open with Cook.

However, a draw came to be an inevitable result as England closed 123 short of victory with a draw being agreed between captains with 6 overs left.

England will need a win in the last test of the series to keep themselves as the number one Test team in the world.

This looks a daunting task especially with more squad changes expected.

It will be interesting to see if James Taylor keeps his number 6 spot, and if Swann is brought back to the bowling attack.

Man of the match Kevin Pietersen has also shocked the England selectors by hinting at his retirement from Test cricket.

He has already quit the shorter formats of the game due to family commitments and is unsure of his future in the game.

One thing is for sure though, with the Ashes soon approaching, England needs to make huge improvements to warrant that top spot in Test cricket.

Stuart Banfield, Cricket correspondent