England vs South Africa, 4th Test at London, , Aug 07 2008 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
4th Test, The Oval, August 07 - 11, 2008, South Africa tour of England
194 & 318
(T:197) 316 & 198/4

England won by 6 wickets

New
ENG 2nd Innings
Full commentary

And that's a consolation win for England. Kevin Pietersen gets off to a winning start as captain, he stands at the entrance and greets the South Africans. Will this be the start of a new era for England?

The star performers for England were Pietersen and Harmison, backed by neat supporting acts from Cook, Strauss, Collingwood, Broad and Anderson.

The final result reads 2-1 to South Africa, but England go in to the Twenty20 and five one-dayers with better spirits. Besides Pietersen, Harmison and Strauss will be pleased with their efforts. Same too for Ntini and de Villiers.

Stay with us for the presentation ceremony.

We're ready. Michael Atherton is the master of ceremonies.

The umpires receive their medallions. The Man of the Match is Kevin Pietersen. Mickey Arthur adjudicated on the England Man of the Series and it's Pietersen again. South Africa's Man of the Series is the captain Graeme Smith.

Pietersen speaks: "After all the commotion of last week the boys have pulled through really well. SA have played some fantastic cricket and I think 2-1 proved right. They drummed it into us for seven-eight days after we had the upper hand at Lord's. We need to regroup for the one-dayers and the India Tests. Harmison was fantastic in his comeback and I would rather have seen him get the Man-of-the-Match award."

Smith gets the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy from Giles Clarke.

Smith speaks: "We didn't get enough runs in the first innings and credit to England for that. We waited a long time for this series win. The Australia tour is a whole new challenge for us. I'm really proud if the guys, everyone has contributed. The Edgbaston innings was the highlight of my life."

That's it from us. Do join us for the one-off Twenty20 International on August 20 at Chester-le-Street. Thanks for your mails. I enjoyed bringing this game to you and we hope you enjoyed our company as well. On behalf of Andrew McGlshan and the scorer Raghav, this is Kanishkaa signing off. Cheers!

52.5
6
Harris to Flintoff, SIX runs

seals it in emphatic style! Harris gives it plenty of air around the off stump, Flintoff stays at the crease and lofts it swiftly through the line, the ball crashes onto the boundary board straight down the ground, he couldn't have done it better

52.4
Harris to Flintoff, no run

flighted outside off, he edges it down to short third man

52.3
Harris to Flintoff, no run

tossed up around middle and leg, he gets forward and defends

Just five needed

52.2
4
Harris to Flintoff, FOUR runs

flighted outside off, he goes back and across, plays with an angled bat and carves it wide of short third man

52.1
Harris to Flintoff, no run

lunges forward and defends this back to the bowler

end of over 522 runs
ENG: 188/4CRR: 3.61 
Paul Collingwood25 (50b 3x4)
Andrew Flintoff1 (9b)
Andre Nel 5-0-21-0
Paul Harris 19-5-46-2
51.6
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

comes inti him sharply gets a thick inside edge onto the pads

51.5
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

short outside off, he cuts to point

51.4
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

drifts on the body, he tries to nudge it to fine leg but the ball lobs off the pads to Boucher

51.3
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

pitches on middle and off, he defends to the off side

51.2
2
Nel to PD Collingwood, 2 runs

slides down the leg side and he nudges it down to fine leg, Ntini finds inspiration from God knows where and effects a brilliant save

51.1
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

pitches outside off and cramps him for room, he quietly defends back to the bowler

end of over 511 run
ENG: 186/4CRR: 3.64 
Andrew Flintoff1 (9b)
Paul Collingwood23 (44b 3x4)
Paul Harris 19-5-46-2
Andre Nel 4-0-19-0
50.6
Harris to Flintoff, no run

nope Flintoff chooses to defend again, over to Collingwood now

50.5
Harris to Flintoff, no run

tossed up around the off stump, he gets forward and keeps it away again

50.4
Harris to Flintoff, no run

flighted on off and middle, he safely defends it

The crowd expect a massive hit

50.3
Harris to Flintoff, no run

flighted outside off, he gets forward and pushes to mid-off

50.2
1
Harris to PD Collingwood, 1 run

gets down the track and chips it uppishly past the bowler and down to long-on

50.1
Harris to PD Collingwood, no run

tossed up around middle and leg, he gets well forward and defends

end of over 503 runs
ENG: 185/4CRR: 3.70 
Andrew Flintoff1 (5b)
Paul Collingwood22 (42b 3x4)
Andre Nel 4-0-19-0
Paul Harris 18-5-45-2
49.6
Nel to Flintoff, no run

pitches outside off and curves back in, he defends back to the bowler

49.5
1
Nel to PD Collingwood, 1 run

drives a full delivery through the line to mid-off, Harris makes a mess of it and they steal a single, Harris shakes his head in disgust

49.4
Nel to PD Collingwood, no run

hits a good length around the off stump, he pushes it to the off side