England stalk Zimbabwe but miss the kill

The chances of a kill do not come round that often in Africa, where the quarry is never still for long. With three runs needed off the last ball, Darren Gough was run out by half a pitch length going for the winning run as Michael Atherton's side failed to get the 205 they needed from 37 overs.

With both team's scores ending level, the match was officially a draw, the first time in Test match history such a feat has occurred. Afterwards frustrations were evident, and having patiently stalked and cornered their Zimbabwean prey over the last two days, England found themselves clutching little more than a mouthful of fur.

Disappointments aside, it nevertheless proved a gallant effort by the England batting, which was propelled by Nick Knight and Alec Stewart. However, with the score on 106 for 1 at the half-way stage of the run chase, many will be smarting that they did not win.

"One more ball and we'd have pissed it," retorted David Lloyd afterwards, adding: "We flippin murdered them and they know it too." An assessment that may have been beyond doubt had England made the final equation easier by bowling Zimbabwe out by lunch.

Controversy however, dogged the day's final few overs, when the Zimbabwe bowlers, and Heath Streak in particular, deliberately bowled wide of leg and off-stump, a legal tactic in first-class cricket, but one that if used excessively must surely contravene the spirit of the game, just as the nature of England's excessive appealing had done the previous day. A ploy that the match referee, Hanumant Singh, rightly reprimanded the England management for.

With England needing 13 to win, it was Streak who bowled the final over. After two balls, England's task had shortened to 11 runs off four when Knight, correctly guessing which side of the stumps Streak would bowl, hoisted the ball high over square leg for six, leaving England with five runs needed from three balls.

Not risking such treatment again, Streak pushed the next ball across Knight at least two feet wide of the batsman's off-stump. It was probably a genuine wide and yet umpire Ian Robinson remained impassive despite the brayings of the `Barmy Army'.

Robinson has not had a good game and both he and his partner Steve Dunne were earlier guilty of allowing Zimbabwe two seven-ball overs, the two extra balls costing the home side six runs.

It was the kind of help that England did not look as if they needed. However, with their game plan compounded by the lack of all the usual one-day restrictions on bouncers, leg-side deliveries and field placings England were never more than one or two wickets away from difficulty, and what on the face of it was a fairly regular Sunday League outing, turned into an epic roller-coaster ride against the clock.

Coming together after Atherton had played on to Olonga, Knight and Stewart batted magnificently, the latter in particular making all the early strokeplay as Knight dabbed and worked the singles. Two sixes, one hooked off Streak and one clouted back over Paul Strang's head, helped Stewart race to his fifty off only 48 balls.

With 51 runs needed from eight overs Stewart, frustrated at his left- handed partner's inability to get Strang away on the leg-side, top-edged the leg-spinner to short fine leg. Unfortunately for England, the Surrey captain's dismissal signalled a flurry of wickets as first Hussain and then Crawley perished playing glory shots into a largely vacant off side.

Their retreat was the signal for Knight to take charge, which he did valiantly, finishing just short of both glory and a second Test century. For him it was a bitter-sweet day of great disappointment. It was also a day he ended as both hero and villain, having earlier dropped Paul Strang at silly point off Phil Tufnell just before the lunch break. His first fielding indiscretion for his country.

In truth, it was England's inability to get rid of Zimbabwe's last five batsmen that cost them the match. Resuming the day at 107 for 5, the home side kept the England bowlers at bay for a further 56 overs adding another 127 runs mainly through the game batting of Andrew Waller and Guy Whittal.

With close fields suddenly spreading, as Zimbabwe bravely put bat to ball against England's persevering spinners, Atherton removed the discomfort that had encouraged the opposition to chance their arm in the first place. Instead of risking boundaries in order to take wickets, the England captain settled for a long drawn-out session of cat and mouse. A tactic England eventually won well into the afternoon.

England did not bowl badly but merely lacked urgency, something their frenetic batting later more than made up for. Tufnell, in particular, bowled with great control and though he never extracted the turn and bounce that Croft did, he still finished with the creditable figures of 4 for 61.

It may not have been proper Test cricket, a point Mr Geoffrey Boycott made several times, but it was a thrilling match to watch, played as it was on a painfully slow pitch. For the books, however, it will be just another drawn game of cricket. Only those there will marvel at what a draw.

BULAWAYO SCOREBOARD

Final day; Zimbabwe won toss

ZIMBABWE - First Innings 376 (A Flower 112, A D R Campbell 84).

ENGLAND - First Innings 406 (N Hussain 113, J P Crawley 112, N V Knight 56; P Strang 5-123).

ZIMBABWE - Second innings

(Overnight: 107 for 5)

A C Waller c Knight b Gough 50

(135 min, 109 balls, 5 fours, 2 six)

B C Strang c Mullally b Tufnell 3

(10 min, 13 balls)

G J Whittall c Croft b Tufnell 56

(184 min, 184 balls, 5 fours, 1 six)

P A Strang c Crawley b Croft 19

(60 min, 40 balls)

H H Streak not out 8

(45 min, 24 balls)

H K Olonga c Stewart b Silverwood 0

(6 min, 7 balls)

Extras (b4, lb6, w2, nb2) 14

Total (382 min, 101 overs) 234

Fall (cont): 6-111 (B Strang), 7-178 (Waller), 8-209 (P Strang), 9-233 (Whittall).

Bowling: Gough 12-2-44-2 (nb1, w1) (8-2-29-1, 3-0-13-1, 1-0-2-0); Mullally 18-5-49-1 (w1) (7-2-23-1, 5-1-13-0, 4-2-3-0, 2-0-10-0); Croft 33-9-62- 2 (8-3-7-1, 12-3-30-0, 3-0-9-0, 3-1-4-0, 7-2-12-1); Silverwood 7-3-8-1 (nb1) (5-2-7-0, 2-1-1-1); Tufnell 31-12-61-4 (16-6-40-3, 6-4-4-0, 9-2- 17-1).

Progress: 150: 227 min, 60.1 overs. Lunch: 188-7 (Whittall 37, P Strang 5) 80 overs. New ball taken immediately after lunch. 200: 314 min, 82.4 overs. Innings closed: 2.01pm.

Waller's 50: 134 min, 106 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes.

Whittall's 50: 156 min,153 balls, 5 fours, 1 six.

ENGLAND - Second innings

N V Knight not out 96

(180 min, 118 balls, 5 fours, 1 six)

*M A Atherton b Olonga 4

(19 min, 10 balls)

A J Stewart c Campbell b P Strang 73

(115 min, 75 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes)

N Hussain c Carlisle b P Strang 0

(2 min, 2 balls)

J P Crawley c Carlisle b Whittall 7

(18 min, 10 balls, 1 four)

G P Thorpe c Campbell b Streak 2

(4 min, 3 balls)

D Gough run out (Carlisle-A Flower) 3

(17 min, 7 balls)

Extras (b2, lb13, w3, nb1) 19

Total (for 6, 180 min, 37 overs) 204

Fall: 1-17 (Atherton), 2-154 (Stewart), 3-156 (Hussain), 4-178 (Crawley), 5-182 (Thorpe), 6-204 (Gough).

Bowling: Streak 11-0-64-1 (nb1, w2) (6-0-36-0, 5-0-28-1); Olonga 2-0- 16-1 (nb1, w1); P Strang 14-0-63-2; G Flower 8-0-36-0; Whittall 2-0-10- 1 (one spell each).

Progress: Tea: 36-1 (Knight 16, Stewart 12) 5 overs. 50: 42 min, 8 overs. 100: 84 min 17.1 overs. 150: 131 min, 28.2 overs. 200: 176 min, 36.3 overs.

Knight's 50: 118 min, 79 balls, 3 fours.

Stewart's 50: 64 min, 48 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes.

Umpires: R S Dunne and I D Robinson.

TV replay umpire: R B Tiffin.

Match referee: Hanumant Singh.

Man of the match: N V Knight.