England snatch tie with South Africa

Kevin Pietersen struck a brilliant hundred but England still needed Kabir Ali to hold his nerve to snatch a dramatic tie against South Africa tonight.

Pietersen's maiden England ton, which received a mixed reaction from the crowd, had looked like being in vain in the second one-day international in Bloemfontein.

Kabir had endured a miserable night as the home side edged towards their 271-run target but, with one run needed off the final ball, he held firm to maintain England's 1-0 lead in the series.

South Africa entered the contest amid something of a crisis but they looked to be on their way to victory as Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock took the target down to eight off the last over.

It proved an amazing finale as Boucher slammed a waist-high no-ball from Kabir through square leg for four but then picked out Giles at deep midwicket from another full toss next delivery.

Undeterred, Kabir then kept the ball full and straight and when Ashwell Prince was run out first ball, South Africa required two runs off as many balls.

Pollock toe-ended a single from the penultimate delivery to leave Kabir's former Worcestershire colleague Andrew Hall on strike.

After much deliberation, Kabir speared in another yorker and wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, standing up to the stumps, completed a brilliant stumping to spark joyous celebrations.

England were indebted to Pietersen's unbeaten 108. Just as he had done in the Johannesburg win on Sunday, the South African-born batsman had walked to the middle with boos ringing around a sell-out crowd.

The South Africans used their own entitlement of luck but it ultimately ran out after half-centuries from Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis.

Pietersen tormented the home fielders with slices into no-man's land and enjoyed two reprieves. In an explosive start to his top-level career he has now struck 234 runs in five limited-overs international innings and been dismissed just once.

And again, as he did at the Wanderers at the weekend, he lifted England from a point of crisis alongside captain Michael Vaughan, who batted with a stomach bug but did not take the field thereafter.

The pair shared an unbroken stand of 59 in Sunday's victory and put on another 80 tonight to restructure an innings which tottered on 67 for three.

Vaughan appeared off-colour during his knock of 42, which included only one four, an upper-cut over the wicketkeeper off Andre Nel, and ended when he took on AB de Villiers' throw from third man and lost.

The industrious Paul Collingwood, whose bowling pinned down the South African batsmen, struck a run-a-ball 40 before succumbing in the deep during the death.

Pietersen's power pierced the field regularly throughout although he found the boundary only three times in reaching his half-century from 55 deliveries.

The lack of the pace in the pitch inhibited his initial strokeplay but he muscled past his previous best score of 77 not out, made in Zimbabwe pre-Christmas, striking a huge six over midwicket off Pollock on the way.

Another maximum, a full toss flipped off his hip, off Andre Nel in the 48th over of the innings took him to 98.

He brought up three figures in the next over as he clipped his 91st delivery, a full toss from Makhaya Ntini, to square leg for a single. He celebrated by throwing upper-cut punches to his team-mates on the balcony and kissing the England badge on his helmet.

Twice he survived half-chances, when on 14 he flashed a delivery from Ntini to short extra cover where Kallis failed to hold on with his left hand, and on 67 Ntini dropped a diving chance off Andre Nel on the point boundary.

Led by Marcus Trescothick in Vaughan's absence, England appeared on course for another win as a quick double blow removed Graeme Smith and debutant de Villiers in successive overs. Smith was again dismissed by Matthew Hoggard and his 20-year-old opening partner miscued a pull off Kabir to square leg.

But Kallis and Gibbs, the Proteas' most experienced batters, used their nous to milk ones and twos before stepping on the accelerator as the required rate climbed above seven runs per over.

Their alliance of 134 ended when Kallis top-edged a sweep off left-arm spinner Ashley Giles to be caught at short fine leg for a 78-ball 63.

With 86 more required from the remaining 11.3 overs, the onus appeared on Gibbs, whose own half-century came from 72 deliveries.

But Justin Kemp eased the tension with a towering six over midwicket off Giles and a mistake from gloveman Jones, allowing the ball to squeeze through his gloves for four byes from Hoggard's first ball back, added further impetus.

When Kemp lofted Kabir into the stands at long on, in the 45th over, the South Africans needed only 38 more to end a run of 12 defeats in 13 one-day internationals.

But a miscue by Gibbs off Hoggard which flew to Darren Gough behind square on the leg-side checked the momentum.

Gough then produced a brilliant inswinging yorker that crept under Kemp's defensive prod to hit middle stump before the dramatic last over unfolded.