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Colly guides Onions home
Cricket, 11:30, December 21, 2009 ,
Paul Collingwood says he tried to keep Graham Onions relaxed by ribbing him about his bat as the Durham pair guided England to safety.
The tourists were cruising to a draw in the first Test against South Africa before Kevin Pietersen's run-out and an inspired spell by new boy Friedel de Wet meant that number 11 Onions and Collingwood had to negotiate 19 deliveries to ensure the sides left Centurion on level terms.
And the pair duly survived despite Onions being stranded at the striker's end for the final six deliveries, sent down by veteran paceman Makhaya Ntini.
The day began poorly for England as night-watchman James Anderson was caught behind and Alistair Cook was snared at short leg off spinner Paul Harris. But Jonathan Trott (69) and Pietersen (81) put together a stand of 145, which appeared to have killed the game off at tea.
However a dramatic collapse meant that, like the first Ashes Test in Cardiff last summer, the final pair had to rescue Andrew Strauss' side from the brink of defeat.
Collingwood finished unbeaten on 26 from 99 deliveries as England limped to 228-9 as time ran out and he confessed that, batting apart, his role in the middle was to keep the man nicknamed 'Bunny' relaxed during the final nerve-wracking minutes.
"I know 'Bunny' can hold a bat so he's certainly capable of keeping a ball out," said the 33-year-old. "But it's a massive pressure situation and that's something he probably hasn't experienced before. I thought he was excellent. He stayed very calm, played straight and saw it through.
"He keeps bragging that he's got the best bat in the dressing room. So I kept shouting down 'Remember you've got the best bat, just keep using it'.
"I was trying to keep him as relaxed as possible because sometimes you can over-complicate things and the nervousness can overtake you.
"There was one that scuttled along the floor and he watched it really well. Once he'd done that I thought 'He's going to see through this over'. It was a great effort."