A century by Hashim Amla in the face of the onslaught of England's pace attack staved off a humiliating defeat for South Africa in the opening npower Test at Lord's today.
Having been dominated for first three days, South Africa's batsmen held their nerve to secure a draw by restricting England's aggressive bowlers to just three wickets in their second innings.
Amla's unbeaten 104 came despite sustained short-pitched bowling and allowed South Africa to move into a 47-run lead on 393 for three before stumps were drawn on the final day.
His effort was aided by the umpires who took the players off for bad light only for the sun to come out minutes later leading to England resorting to using the occasional off-spin of Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook with the new ball only five overs old.
Resuming the final day still trailing by 104 runs, the tourists knew they needed to be resilient during the early stages if they were to avoid giving England any encouragement.
That was typified by Amla, who resumed on 20 and withstood a fierce spell of intimidating short-pitched bowling.
Virtually from the first over of the day, England captain Michael Vaughan instructed Lancashire seamer James Anderson to bowl nothing but short-pitched deliveries at Amla while a Bodyline-type field with several players positioned close to the bat was set up on the legside.
It was intimidating bowling on a par with anything England suffered against West Indies 25 years ago, but on a slow pitch Amla handled it superbly and left Vaughan bereft of further ideas to dismiss him.
McKenzie, unbeaten on 102 overnight, was a different matter and he was facing traditional field settings but showing no signs of getting out despite the occasional excited appeal from left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.
He seized on any loose deliveries from England's tiring attack, who must all have feared a repeat of the Test two years ago at Lord's when Sri Lanka batted for 199 overs to save the match after following on.
Amla's persistence paid off when he pounced on a slower ball from left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom, who passed a morning fitness test on a back strain to play, and cut him for a rare boundary to bring up his half-century after nearly three hours at the crease.
But just eight overs after lunch England finally broke McKenzie's resistance when a right hamstring injury, which South Africa are hopeful he will recover from to play in the second Test, restricted his foot movement and he was caught behind chasing a wide delivery from Anderson.
McKenzie had battled for nine-and-a-quarter hours for his determined 138 and provided the platform for South Africa's fightback, sharing in a 125-run stand with Amla to deny England for 51 overs.
But having waited so long for one breakthrough, England claimed another 15 overs later with left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom delivering the perfect yorker to bowl all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
With South Africa now in a slender lead, England could ill afford to suffer any lapses in the field but dropped Ashwell Prince on two, Alastair Cook failing to hold a chance at fourth slip off Stuart Broad.
Hoping a burst with the third new ball could finally break South Africa's resistance, England were undermined by both Broad and Anderson showing the strains of two long, hard days in the field.
As he trooped off the pitch knowing this was an opportunity missed for England, Vaughan could at least console himself that he had talisman Andrew Flintoff back in the squad for the second Test at Headingly to galvanise the tired attack.