By Andy Wilson
Jonathan Trott completed a remarkable double-century and there were freewheeling fifties for the Yorkshire bowlers Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks as the first four-day match between England Lions and South Africa A faded to an inevitable draw.
Trott, who resumed the last morning on 176, picked up where he had left off by maintaining impeccable concentration and technique in the energy-sapping Paarl heat, which reached 42 degrees on the hottest day yet.
When he declared the Lions innings on 624 for eight half an hour before lunch, the captain remained unbeaten on 211 after batting 13 minutes short of 11 hours, and facing 403 balls.
It was the fourth double-century of his career in first-class cricket, his first since he made 203 for England against Sri Lanka in Cardiff in 2011, and his second-highest score, with the declaration denying him the chance to beat the career-best 226 he made against Bangladesh at Lord’s in 2010.
South Africa A made 92 for two in their second innings before the teams agreed on a draw at tea, meaning that Trott had been on the field for all but 10 overs of the match.
Boyd Rankin trapped the first-innings centurion Gihahm Cloete lbw in a determined post-lunch spell, and Adil Rashid had Stiaan van Zyl caught behind by his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow in his best spell of the tour so far.
There were no wickets for Plunkett or Brooks, but they had both made a major impact in the morning session. Plunkett, who was on 31 overnight, moved to a 72-ball half century with eight fours and two sixes before he hooked Chris Morris to Cloete at long-leg.
Mark Wood fell cheaply but Brooks relished the opportunity to score only the second half-century of his career in first-class cricket.
He lofted Dane Piedt, an off-spinner who made his Test debut last year, over midwicket for one six, and hooked the home captain Rory Kleinveldt for another.
Brooks then reached his fifty from 37 balls with consecutive fours, and equalled his previous career-best of 53 by clipping his next ball for three, before Trott declared to leave him not out.
The teams now head north to Bloemfontein for another four-day match, which starts on Sunday, with South Africa A set to be boosted by the return of several players who were drafted into the senior Proteas team for the Twenty20 series against West Indies, including Justin Ontong and Marchant de Lange.
Brooks thinks the squad can move on to the next match in good spirits, saying: “We started slowly at the beginning of the game, but adjusted and ended up on top so hopefully we can take the momentum into the next game and learn that we’re a skilful unit, if we get it right we can bowl them out.”
Back to work. @Trotty resumes his marathon with @Liam628 for #englions on the hottest morning yet pic.twitter.com/muGI8cLyeC
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) January 14, 2015
On his captain’s knock, he added: “I don’t know how he can bat for so long – I get bored after 20 minutes! He must just love batting and it takes so much pressure off the rest of us.
“To have him in the team and that experience and calmness around the team is brilliant for the other lads to bounce off.”
The Lions coach Mark Robinson expressed satisfaction at the way the team had finished the match, and saluted his captain.
“I think we finished strong and grew during the game, which is important,” he said. “It would be interesting if it was a five-day Test match because we felt we were beginning to put them under some pressure there – the ball was beginning to turn and Rashid was causing problems.
“We obviously started the game slowly and didn’t adapt quickly enough in that first day, and you’ve got to give a lot of credit to the South Africans for the way they seized the initiative. But from then onwards we’ve done well and we’ll take a lot of confidence and momentum into the second match.
“We needed all the experience of Jonathan Trott. He showed what a magnificent player he is, and how experienced he is, and all the other superlatives that go with it. But his power of concentration, to keep playing the same way and not change, is a great lesson to anybody watching.
“He’s in a great place; he has been since he joined us in Potchefstroom before Christmas. He’s been really enthusiastic, he’s taken ownership of the team as a captain and it’s always nice when that has its rewards in the most important place in the middle.”