England 593-8 dec S Africa 247 & 393-3 dec: Amla's rearguard action seals England's capital punishment

Lord's and The Oval provide the England and Wales Cricket Board with a significant proportion of its annual revenue but London is not a city Michael Vaughan and his side will be looking to rush back to in a hurry. Yesterday's drawn first Test against South Africa means that England have now won just one of their last 11 matches in the capital since 2005, and that was against Bangladesh. Nine of these Tests have been drawn, with the solitary defeat coming against Australia at Lord's in 2005.

The figures change somewhat when England move away from London. In the same period they have won 11 and lost just two of the 14 games they have played. The WAGs may enjoy the shopping the capital affords, but it is out in the shires where the win bonuses are picked up.

England's failure to turn three days of domination into triumph cannot be placed at the blistered and tired feet of the bowlers, even though they took just three wickets as South Africa amassed 393 second-innings runs. Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar gave their absolute all to the cause on the final two days of the Test, but ultimately they were no match for broad South African bats and a benign pitch.

At Headingley in three days' time England's bowlers need to be fit, strong, fresh and ready to go through it all again, but at least they will have Andrew Flintoff ready to share the workload. Vaughan will welcome Flintoff's hostility too. Hard as England's bowlers tried they could not generate the bounce and reverse swing required to trouble batsmen bent solely on occupying the crease. Flintoff offers both at a greater pace than any other member of England's attack.

On Sunday it was Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, and Neil McKenzie who blunted England's bowlers with resolute hundreds; yesterday Hashim Amla, the first South African of Indian descent to play for the national side, became the member of an exclusive club by reaching three figures at the home of cricket. Amla's batting possesses all the lovely, wristy traits of an Asian batsman. He is elegant off his legs and scores the majority of his runs square of the wicket.

England continued with their plan to intimidate Amla with short balls, but it caused him few problems. The 25-year-old swayed or ducked out of the way of bouncers with relative ease, skilfully keeping his hands and bat out of the way. Amla's fifth Test hundred was brought up when he cut Paul Collingwood for four, a moment that was enjoyed by all on the South African balcony.

Andrew Strauss missed the event, having left the field at 2pm to attend the birth of his second son. Luca Peter Strauss arrived at 5.20pm, 30 minutes after the Test reached a somewhat confusing conclusion. Bad light led to an initial round of hand-shaking but it was premature. The light improved and the players returned for two further overs. When these had been completed the captains were within their rights to end the game.

The England bowler Monty Panesar had another frustrating day, which ended with him having to apologise to the umpire Daryl Harper. Panesar's endless appealing led to an exchange with Harper, a disagreement over which Vaughan acted on immediately, instigating the apology and shake of hands between Panesar and Harper.

For many the past two days will highlight why Test cricket is deemed by some to be fighting for its survival: five unbroken days of cricket and nothing more than a draw to show for it all. But such people are missing the point. The quality of a match should not always be judged by the result.

Yes, the game did become rather tedious during the final two days as England's bowlers struggled for wickets, but the first three days of the Test generated wonderful entertainment. The batting of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell was sublime and England's bowling on Saturday was pretty damned good too.

What were Smith's side expected to do, lie down and hand England victory? There was much to admire about South Africa's rearguard action on the final two days too. It takes a great deal of character to come back from the position South Africa found themselves in on Sunday morning, when nobody gave them much chance of avoiding defeat, and, having come through the experience, it will be they who travel to Leeds for the second Test with spirits high.

Mark Cavendish has won a couple of sprints at the Tour de France but he has no chance of wearing the yellow jersey or winning the event. That honour will go to a cyclist who grafts his way through the difficult times and gets up the steep hills. It is in circumstances like this that you really find out the qualities the best possess. Sport at the highest level is all about great contests between tough opponents. Ultimately, this was not a great Test, but it had plenty to admire.

Lord's final day scoreboard

South Africa won toss

England – First Innings 593 for 8 dec (I R Bell 199, K P Pietersen 152, S C J Broad 76, A N Cook 60; M Morkel 4-121).

South Africa – First Innings 247 (A G Prince 101; M S Panesar 4-74).

South Africa – Second Innings

(Overnight: 242 for 1)

*G C Smith c Pietersen b Anderson......... 107

340 min, 207 balls, 11 fours

N D McKenzie c Ambrose b Anderson......... 138

553 min, 447 balls, 16 fours

H M Amla not out......... 104

346 min, 242 balls, 14 fours

J H Kallis b Sidebottom......... 13

57 min, 52 balls, 2 fours

A G Prince not out......... 9

75 min, 54 balls

Extras (b8 lb8 w5 nb1)......... 22

Total (for 3 dec, 687 min, 167 overs)......... 393

Fall: 1-204 (Smith) 2-329 (McKenzie) 3-357 (Kallis).

Did not bat: A B de Villiers, †M V Boucher, M Morkel, P L Harris, D W Steyn, M Ntini.

Bowling: Panesar 60-15-116-0 (2-0-7-0, 13-4-24-0, 1-0-3-0, 14-3-30-0, 4-1-10-0, 19-4-34-0, 7-3-8-0); Pietersen 7-1-21-0 (2-1-2-0, 1-0-6-0, 3-0-11-0, 1-0-2-0); Sidebottom 30-9-46-1 (nb1) (3-0-8-0, 6-4-2-0, 3-1-6-0, 3-0-5-0, 3-1-2-0, 3-1-3-0, 4-0-12-0, 5-2-8-1); Anderson 32-7-78-2 (w3) (6-1-13-0, 8-3-24-0, 5-0-15-1, 7-2-14-0, 6-1-12-1); Broad 26-7-78-0 (w2) (2-0-7-0, 1-1-0-0, 6-2-11-0, 4-0-25-0, 2-0-12-0, 2-1-5-0, 2-0-10-0, 7-3-8-0); Collingwood 11-4-37-0 (5-3-14-0, 3-1-8-0, 1-0-2-0, 2-0-13-0); Cook 1-0-1-0.

Progress: Fifth day (min 90 overs): 250: 416 min, 99.1 overs. 300: 509 min, 122 overs. Lunch: 312-1 (McKenzie 131, Amla 57) 127 overs. 591 min, 142.5 overs. Tea: 372-3 (Amla 88, Prince 4) 157 overs. New ball taken after 161 overs at 372-3. Bad light stopped play 4.37-4.45pm 390-3 (Amla 102, Prince 8) 165 overs. Declaration at 4.50pm.

Amla's 50: 168 min, 116 balls, 9 fours. 100: 337 min, 231 balls, 14 fours.

Match drawn

Man of the match: I R Bell.

Umpires: B F Bowden (NZ) and D J Harper (Aus).

TV replay umpire: N J Llong.

Match referee: J J Crowe.

Lords of the draw England's struggles in London

Since beating Bangladesh in May 2005 at Lord's, England have failed to win a Test match played at Lord's or The Oval. During the same period, they have won 11 home Tests outside the capital.

Lord's, July 2008

England v South Africa, first Test

Eng 593-8 dec

SA 247 & 393-3......... Match drawn

Lord's, May 2008

England v New Zealand, first Test

NZ 277 & 269-6

Eng 319 ......... Match drawn

The Oval, August 2007

England v India, third Test

Ind 664 & 180-6 dec

Eng 345 & 369-6......... Match drawn

Lord's, July 2007

England v India, first Test

Eng 298 & 282

Ind 201 & 282-9 ......... Match drawn

Lord's, May 2007

England v West Indies, first Test

Eng 553 & 284-8 dec

WI 437 & 89-0 ......... Match drawn

The Oval, August 2006

England v Pakistan, fourth Test

Eng 173 & 298-4

Pak 504 ......... Match drawn*

(*Result officially amended)

Lord's, July 2006

England v Pakistan, first Test

Eng 528 & 296-8 dec

Pak 445 & 214-4 ......... Match drawn

Lord's, May 2006

England v Sri Lanka, first Test

Eng 551-6 dec

Sri Lanka 192 & 537-9 ......... Match drawn

The Oval, September 2005

England v Australia, fifth Test

Eng 373 & 335

Aus 367 & 4-0 ......... Match drawn

Lord's, July 2005

England v Australia, first Test

Aus 190 & 384

Eng 155 & 180 ......... Aus won by 239 runs

England in home Tests:

2008 London two draws

Elsewhere two wins

2007 London three draws.

Elsewhere three wins, one defeat

2006 London three draws.

Elsewhere three wins, one loss

2005 London one draw, one win, one loss.

Elsewhere three wins, one draw.

Shot of the day

*Hashim Amla's batting is reminiscent of VVS Laxman, such are his wristy clips through the leg side. But the best stroke in his hundred was a back-foot drive off Stuart Broad. It was an extremely classy shot.

Ball of the day

*Ryan Sidebottom must have feared that he would not get a second-innings wicket but he slipped a magnificent yorker under Jacques Kallis's bat. It was the second time in the Test that Sidebottom had dismissed South Africa's best batsman.

Moment of the day

*Scoring a hundred at Lord's is always a special occasion and Hashim Amla deserved his moment of joy. When he first played for South Africa, against England in 2004-05, his talent was questioned, now he is part of history.