England record consolation victory

England have beaten South Africa by six wickets on the fifth day of the fourth and final Test at The Oval to register a consolation victory and a winning start for new captain Kevin Pietersen.

After previously bowling so well, England needed a tricky 197 runs to win the final Test, and made a tentative start to the day, managing only 11 runs after 11 overs.

By lunch, however, the side was just 88 runs short of the required total, having reached 109-0, thanks to the careful, yet gradually effective batting partnership of Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss.

After 40 minutes and having seen off the new ball, the batsmen opened up and Cook reached his half-century without breaking a sweat.

The pair managed their best batting record together, 123, with the partnership ending after Cook edged Makhaya Ntini to South Africa skipper Graeme Smith at first slip shortly after lunch.

Ian Bell became Ntini's second victim, bowled round the pads for a modest four.

Strauss (58) went without further addition to the total, caught by Smith off the bowling of spinner Paul Harris - it was his first half-century of the series.

Pietersen, who took over from Michael Vaughan as captain last week, also fell to Harris for 13 but by then England needed only 15 runs to win.

Andrew Flintoff (11 not out) and Paul Collingwood (25 not out) steered England home.

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