Pietersen hits fifty in tame draw

Kevin Pietersen ended his first Championship match for almost two years with an unbeaten half-century and in touching distance of a Surrey batting record.

Surrey's Division Two clash against Glamorgan in Cardiff ended drawn on a low-key final day after the home side were set an improbable 352 to win off a minimum of 57 overs. They finished on 116 without loss.

Pietersen, who is eager to revive his England career after making the last of 104 Test match appearances against Australia in January 2014, finished with 53 not out as Surrey declared their second innings on 207 for 4. His innings, a scratchy one at times with a sprinkling of mistimed shots, contained just four boundaries, yet he fell two runs short of becoming the fastest batsman to score 1000 runs in Surrey history.

Mark Ramprakash and Zander de Bruyn both got there in 18 innings for the county. Pietersen should reach four figures when Surrey play their next Championship match against Essex, though, as he currently has 998 runs from 16 innings.

Pietersen's knock lasted 70 balls, and it followed the 170 he made against Oxford MCCU in The Parks earlier this month. But while there appears little to suggest that Pietersen is anywhere near featuring on England's selection radar 77 days before the opening Ashes Test, back in Cardiff, his domestic season is at least up and running.

A lone "boo" was heard among a sparse crowd in the sunshine when Pietersen strode out 37 minutes into the final morning to join Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara with the score on 41 for 2.

A gentle nudge into the on side got Pietersen off the mark from his first ball, but he was content to provide a support role initially as Sangakkara displayed his full range of attacking guile, including a straight six off Graham Wagg.

The pair added 37 before Sangakkara was caught in the gully by Dean Cosker off third-day centurion Craig Meschede. Pietersen and Jason Roy then compiled 43 for the fourth wicket until Roy's punchy knock of 29 was ended by a stunning Wagg catch at extra-cover, with Cosker the successful bowler.

Pietersen continued to push on, although Glamorgan wicketkeeper Mark Wallace did claim a stumping off Meschede when Pietersen left his crease, but the end of the over had already been called. He added 55 for the fifth wicket by lunch with Gary Wilson - Surrey led Glamorgan by 320 - but the visitors surprisingly chose to bat on after the interval, and they eventually set their opponents an unlikely victory target, with Pietersen and Wilson forging an unbroken partnership of 86.

Surrey began the final day 144 runs ahead after Glamorgan successfully avoided the follow-on thanks to loan signing Meschede's undefeated maiden first-class century.

With time against them, the emphasis had to be on quick runs if Surrey were force to the issue, and Steven Davies - a first-innings double-centurion - moved up to open the batting alongside Rory Burns. But Glamorgan claimed a fifth-over breakthrough when Wagg lured Burns, who had made just 3, into a leading edge and he took the catch to leave Surrey on 16 for 1.

Burns' exit brought Sangakkara to the crease, and his high-class shot placement kept Surrey ticking along before Wagg struck again, this time sending Davies' middle stump cartwheeling when he was on 21.

After Surrey's declaration, it was purely a case of batting practice for Glamorgan, with openers James Kettleborough and Jacques Rudolph crawling at barely two runs an over leading up to tea.

They reached the interval on 57 for 0, with Rudolph undefeated on 30 and Kettleborough 18 not out, but the game had already reached stalemate and it was merely a case of how long play would continue after tea before both teams shook hands. That moment arrived at 5pm, with both batsmen posting unbeaten half-centuries.