Perth: Led by a resolute century by Jacques Rudolph, South Africa managed to hold Australia to a draw in the first Test match of their three-match series in Perth.
Starting the last day of the match on 85 for two in pursuit of an improbable target of 491, the visitors managed to bat out the day for the loss of just three wickets.
Rudolph held out against the sustained pace of Lee and Mcgrath and the spin of Warne to secure a well deserved draw.
The Proteas had slumped to 138 for four before lunch on the final day but rallied to finish on 287 for five with Rudolph
unbeaten on 102.
Rudolph was originally brought on tour as a reserve batsman but was promoted to the starting team after Jacques Kallis was ruled out with an elbow injury.
He batted more than seven hours, including the entire last day and was so tired when he reached the three figure mark that he could barely lift bat to acknowledge the applause.
Proteas captain Graeme Smith said the result had shown his young team they had nothing to fear from the Australians who are licking their wounds after the Ashes loss to England.
Smith said that the team is relaxed at the moment and that the last five days have given them more confidence.
He added that his team would be able to execute certain things better going into the Boxing day Test match at Melbourne.
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