BRIT OVAL

(final day of five, South Africa won toss)

England 316 and 198-4 beat South Africa 194 and 318 by six wickets

Close

They stuttered and stumbled - and Kevin Pietersen wasn't destined to hit the winning runs after all - but the new England captain could still celebrate a winning debut as the side that ultimately cared that little bit more about victory came out on top in front of a 15,000 crowd at the Brit Oval.

South Africa, with an unassailable lead, looked anything but scarred by defeat at the end and will now turn their attention to the series in Australia beginning in Perth in December which will decide - unofficially - where the tag of "best in the world" now most accurately rests.

An opening stand of 123 between Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss meant that England could afford a few later scares and still avoid a 3-0 loss that would have unfairly accentuated the real difference between the sides. Cook, playing very well, fell for his fourth score between 60 and 76 in the series.

The sight of Ian Bell going too far across and fatally exposing his leg stump showed that the Pietersen influence is not always positive and the captain himself suffered the ignominy of losing his wicket to Paul Harris when the slow bowler finally went around the wicket. But, in the grand scheme, it mattered not a jot.

Lunch

Alastair Cook has been arguably England's most consistent batsman through the series with half-centuries now in all four Tests. The problem has been converting one of them into a hundred, but he batted well enough through the first session here to suggest that he can lead the side to belated success.

On a fifth day pitch with signs of variable bounce, Cook pulled crisply and confidently, hitting ten fours in his 83-ball fifty while Andrew Strauss, in the early stages at least, looked far less secure. Strauss was fortunate on four to be caught at leg gully off a Morne Morkel no ball which crystallized some below-par bowling.

South Africa's lack of intensity betrayed their attitude towards a 'dead' game. One-day players such as Herschelle Gibbs are now part of the dressing room; England on tour go to lengths to keep the squads apart. When a ball from the wayward Morne Morkel was taken by Graeme Smith at slip the reaction was laughter.

Paul Harris found enough turn without giving the ball a really big rip, and Cook and Strauss used their feet effectively to rotate the strike. Smith had no option but to attack, allowing the ball to be worked into gaps so that by lunch England had brought down the target to only 88.