Tour match at New Road. Bangladesh A 121 (M Ntini 4-32) and 97-2 v  South Africa 429-3 dec (J P Duminy 166, G C Smith 87, J H Kallis 70 no, H M Amla 55) and 328-4 (AB de Villiers 100 ret, R J Peterson 103no, A Nel 56). South Africa drew with Bangladesh A.

AB de Villiers handed another warning to England by hitting a fine century as South Africa cruised to a draw in their three-day match against Bangladesh A at Worcester on Sunday.

The 24-year-old retired out on 100 as his side made the most of another day of practice ahead of the Third Test which starts at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

Robin Peterson also helped himself to an undefeated 103 before the Proteas finally declared their second innings an hour after lunch.
It gave them a monster lead of 636 and at the close battered Bangladesh were 97 for two with Tamim Iqbal making 65.

The tedious final day began with Jacques Kallis failing to resume his innings in which he was 55 not out overnight along with De Villiers, who was undefeated with 79.

Kallis, who injured the fourth finger on his left hand while attempting an overhead catch in the slips on Saturday, went in the scorebook as retired hurt from an innings which included four fours off 108 balls.

He did, however, take his place in the field when Bangladesh A came out to launch their second innings.

After the match, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur backed paceman Andre Nel to keep the heat on England. The 31-year-old has been called up to replace Dale Steyn who is sidelined with a broken thumb.

Arthur said: “Any time Andre plays for South Africa he’s fired up. I can’t wait to see him bowl hard. I think he’s going to do really well. We’ve backed him a huge amount over the last couple of months and I’ve got a feeling he is going to come through this one fantastically.

“We have the ability now to lose one guy and be able to bring back a guy who is a hardened Test-match campaigner. So we are fortunate to do that, but that’s how we structured our team.”

Arthur also confirmed that Kallis is “100 per cent fine” and that there were “no worries” about him being fit enough to face England.