India vs South Africa, 1st Test at Chennai, Mar 26 2008 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Stumps, 3.28 pm local time: The first Test between India and South Africa has been drawn and it's a match that all the bowlers will want to erase from memory as quickly as possible. Even on the fifth day there wasn't much assistance and McKenzie batted superbly to remain unbeaten on 155. Harbhajan finished the match with eight wickets and bowled an astonishing 78.5 overs.

South Africa have performed splendidly, their batsmen came good in both innings, defying India's bowlers and their fast bowlers succeeded in pulling India back on the fourth day, taking nine wickets for not very much. The Test, however, will be remembered for Sehwag's awesome triple-century - it shattered several records. It was primarily because of that innings that India had a chance to put South Africa under pressure on the fourth day, an opportunity they did not take. The pitch had the final word, with the batsmen dominating the bowlers throughout and a draw was established as the only result by the end of the fourth day.

I'll have the news from the presentation ceremony for you in a bit.

Graeme Smith: We've got some really good cricket under out belt over the last five days. Our batters had a good Test match, I was pretty comfortable with the way we bowled, obviously Virender played a tremendous knock. Our bowlers have an immense amount of talent and they're learning to bowl in different conditions around the world. There are a lot of positives from this Test match and hopefully if we get into a good position in Ahmedabad, we can be a bit more ruthless.

Kumble: The way Viru batted, he not only batted sessions, he also did most of the scoring. The conditions were very tough for the bowlers with the flat wicket and the heat. We expected the wicket to deteriorate and though there would be a bit more pace but I think the rain in the last week hampered preparations. The South African batsmen batted extremely well and we have to sit down and plan ...

The Man of the Match is Virender Sehwag, no surprises there. McKenzie also batted superbly for South Africa, scoring 94 and 155 not out.

Sehwag: It was a good Test for me but unfortunately we couldn't win the match but we're happy with our performances. I never planned to play like that, I decided to bat the full day to make best use of this track. I'm happy with my effort. Jaffer and I started well and we capitalised on that. Dravid also contributed a lot, I was very tired at the end of the day and I thought I would go after the bowling but Dravid spoke to me and said that if you stay till the end of the day then you can come back tomorrow and score more ...

So the series moves on to Ahmedabad level at 0-0. Hopefully the pitch at the Motera will offer more for the bowlers so that the contest between bat and ball won't be as one-sided as it was in Chennai. That's it from us at Cricinfo for today, thank you for all your emails during the course of this match. The next Test begins on April 3. This is George Binoy signing off again, cheers.

The mandatory overs will start some time soon, so they have the option of calling the game off if they want.

"What on earth is South Africa doing right now? Have they seriously decided to shut up shop and go for the draw? There's plenty of time left yet -- if they opened up and played some strokes they could easily get to 330ish by the close of play, particularly given they have five wickets left (even with a long tail). That would make for a great fifth day," says MaraudingJ.

He writes in a moment later saying: "Oh wait. Brain cramp. It's day 5 already. That's what happens when your Friday disappears in a party haze."

Highest match aggregate in Chennai. Surpassing the previous record set between Australia and India in 1986-87.

It's all happening in Chennai. Everyone is on the edge of their seats. This is one of the greatest Tests ever played. Harbhajan on in the exciting final stages.