CHENNAI, March 30: Neil McKenzie continued his amazing comeback to the South African side with an unbeaten century as the high-scoring first Test against India ended in a listless draw here on Sunday.

The 32-year-old followed his 94 in the first innings with 155 not out as South Africa piled up 331-5 in their second knock before umpires Asad Rauf and Tony Hill called off the match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

A draw in the first game of the three-Test series was the result of a heartless pitch for the bowlers that produced 1,498 runs for just 25 wickets over the five days.

The run feast saw South Africa pile up 540 in the first innings and India replied with 627 on the back of a brilliant 319 from Virender Sehwag and 111 by Dravid.

McKenzie, who was recalled to the Test squad in January after being ignored by the selectors for four years, hit 13 boundaries and a six in his fourth Test century.

He had scored 226 during a world record opening partnership of 415 with captain Graeme Smith in the previous Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong earlier this month.

Smith said his team will take a lot of positives from the match ahead of the remaining two Tests in Ahmedabad from April 3 and Kanpur from April 11.

“We’ve got some really good cricket under out belt over the last five days,” the South African captain said.

“Our batters had a good Test match. I was also pretty comfortable with the way we bowled even though Virender played a tremendous knock.

“Our bowlers have an immense amount of talent and they are learning to bowl in different conditions around the world.

“There are a lot of positives from this Test match and hopefully if we get into a good position in Ahmedabad, we can be a bit more ruthless.”

Indian captain Anil Kumble paid warm tribute to Sehwag who smashed the fastest recorded triple century in history.

“The way Viru batted, he not only batted sessions, he also did most of the scoring,” said Kumble.

“The conditions were very tough for the bowlers with the flat wicket and the heat. We expected the wicket to deteriorate and thought there would be a bit more pace but I think the rain in the last week hampered preparations.”

Sehwag, who was named Man-of-the-Match, wished India had won the Test.

“It was a good Test for me but unfortunately we could not win the match,” he said. “I never planned to play like that. I just wanted to bat the full day and make best use of this track. I hope I can continue the same form for the rest of the series.”

McKenzie and his overnight partner Hashim Amla, who resumed at 131-1, batted through most of the morning session to dent India’s chances of forcing an unlikely win.

Amla, South Africa’s first innings hero with 159, survived two dropped catches to make 81 before he was dismissed five minutes before lunch.

McKenzie and Amla put on 157 for the second wicket, but the hosts have themselves to blame for allowing the long partnership.

Amla was on 55 when he top-edged a sweep off Harbhajan Singh but Shanthakumaran Sreesanth could not hold the ball when running in from deep square-leg.

Amla moved to 72 when he drove seamer R.P. Singh uppishly but the bowler failed to latch on to a sharp return catch.

Jacques Kallis helped McKenzie add 54 for the third wicket on either side of lunch before Harbhajan cheered 15,000 home fans with the wickets of Kallis and Ashwell Prince in 11 balls midway through the afternoon session.

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