CRICKET South Africa v England, second Test: The clouds, absent for most of this enthralling Test match, rolled slowly westward from the Indian Ocean yesterday evening and deprived England of what, by any stretch of the imagination, would have been a remarkable victory and their ninth in a row.
England, 193 behind on first innings, had South Africa on the ropes at 290 for eight, not within a sniff of the 378 they had been set, when umpires Darrell Hair and Simon Taufel offered the light to the batsmen, who marched straight back to the pavilion.
There were still 15 overs remaining and England stayed on the outfield like happy picnickers, eating energy bars and quaffing drinks, hoping the conditions would improve until persuaded finally the day was done.
England had been favourites to take the day but can still take enormous pride in the manner in which they overcame the odds after their first innings to dominate the match over the final three days. Today they can move on to Cape Town to begin the New Year in high spirits.
Despite the ultimate disappointment here, they have still lost only once - in Colombo before Christmas 2003 - in their last 19 matches and are undefeated now in 13, the best run by an England side since the late 1960s and early 1970s when they doubled that figure.
Graeme Smith and his South Africa side can take heart too. Escaping with a draw may just revitalise them, where devastation awaited had they lost in the wake of creating such a dominant position after two days. They can now regroup knowing that in the two Tests they have been able to put England under pressure. The series is by no means over.
There can be no complaints from England on the outcome. Michael Vaughan had seen the clouds coming and opted to throw the kitchen sink at South Africa rather than resort to using spinners as an expedient to stay out there. By then the floodlights had been blazing for a while.
A series regulation, though, says that, if natural light is superseded by artificial - when the lights cast shadows in fact - the batsmen in the first instance may be offered the chance to go off and, if not, as happened in the first Test, the fielding side. They might not have lasted out there much longer in any case.
In effect, with the light getting worse by the second, England gambled on a single over from Steve Harmison, initially to Makhaya Ntini and then perhaps to South Africa's last man, Dale Steyn, to bring victory. Ntini's response was to belt one of the world's fastest bowlers, with his dander up and armed with a new ball, for four boundaries in five balls. That was the last act of a remarkable game.
At one stage in mid-afternoon England had reduced South Africa to 183 for seven with the dismissal of Martin van Jaarsveld for 49.
There were still 43 overs remaining, time enough, they might have thought, to shoot out the tail. And, if they did not do it sooner, a new ball awaited 22 overs away on a surface that was likely to respond to it capriciously.
Instead they were held up for 27 overs by a gutsy eighth-wicket stand of 85 between the 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers and Shaun Pollock, which ended only when Pollock was superbly run out by Simon Jones' direct hit from wide mid-on with only a single stump at which to aim.
Pollock's 38 may have come at a price, however, for Harmison, armed with the new ball, was brutal. First, a delivery barely short of a length and wickedly fast, reared at the batsman's throat and struck his right index finger so hard that his hand jerked off the bat as if starting a chain saw. The on-field treatment lasted five minutes.
The next ball, similar in length, direction and ferocity, clattered into his left index finger, with similar outcome and more treatment.
The run-out in the following over - the result of hesitation between the batsmen - offered him respite. No assessment is likely until today, but the damage may yet keep him out of Sunday's third Test, although as a result of the excellent protection offered by modern equipment, early indications were that he could move both fingers but was probably not using a knife and a fork last night.
Under the circumstances the encouragement that Pollock gave De Villiers as he walked past was above the call of duty. But the young right-hander had acquitted himself well, remaining unbeaten on 52.
Stuart MacGill and Shane Watson have been added to Australia's squad for the third Test with Pakistan starting on Sunday in Sydney after Brett Lee was dropped to get some much-needed match practice.
Lee served as 12th man in Australia's past eight Tests but the selectors agreed to release him so he could play in the domestic first-class competition.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq are expected to be cleared to play in the Test. Inzamam missed the second Test in Melbourne with a back injury while Razzaq was twice admitted to hospital after suffering from a mystery illness.
Both need to pass fitness tests.
Overnight: England 139 (S M Pollock 4-32) and 570-7 dec (A Strauss 136, M Trescothick 132, G Thorpe 118 no, G Jones 73, A Flintoff 60). South Africa 332 (J Kallis 162) and 21-1.
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H Gibbs c Giles b Harmison 36
N Boje c Thorpe b Flintoff 10
J Rudolph c Strauss b Giles 61
J Kallis c G Jones b Harmison 10
M van Jaarsveld c Trescothick b Hoggard 49
H Amla lbw b S P Jones 0
AB de Villiers not out 52
S Pollock run out 35
M Ntini not out 16
Extras (b8 lb4 w1 nb3) 16
Total (8 wkts, 86 overs) ... 290
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-33, 3-87, 4-103, 5-172, 6-173, 7-183, 8-268.
Did Not Bat: D Steyn.
Bowling: Hoggard 19-3-58-2, Harmison 19-4-62-2, Flintoff 14-5-38-1, S Jones 14-4-36-1, Giles 19-1-84-1, Vaughan 1-1-0-0.
South Africa drew with England
