Victorious England captain Nasser Hussain paid tribute to South Africa's Hansie Cronje after a dramatic and historic fifth Test win.

After the match the pair revealed details of the contrived finish, which gave frustrated fans an entertaining match to watch after a three-day washout.

After rejecting England's Monday offer of a one-day match Cronje made the first move, by offering to bat on towards a total and then declare.

Hussain rejected the initial overtures, but after seeing how the pitch was playing agreed to make a historic deal before lunch.

South Africa's declaration was followed by the first innings to be forfeited in Test cricket, and then the second, although both will technically go down as 0 for 0 declared.

"We spoke to him this morning and said we'll get to that 250-mark and then let you have a go," Cronje said afterwards of his initial offer to Hussain.

"He took a while to think about it and then agreed to go ahead."

Hussain admitted early reluctance as rumours of deals and refusals circled Centurion Park during the morning session.

A signal that a deal was imminent again came when Hussain briefly left the field during the second hour of play.

"At first he gave me a figure which I was not too happy with," explained Hussain of Cronje.

"But we had a look at the wicket and sent a message to him which said we were happy with that figure."

Such tactics are commonplace in rain-affected country cricket, but have never been used in the Test arena.

However the game's lawmakers were not offended by developments in Pretoria.

"Technically what has happened is not viable, but common sense has prevailed," said the MCC's John Jameson, who is also on an international panel examining the laws of the game.

Hussain reassured traditionalists that the contrived finish was designed to help the game rather than harm it.

"The last thing I wanted to do was devalue Test cricket," said the England skipper. "We got an entertaining match and a result."

Cronje echoed those views, despite his disappointment at a gamble which went wrong.

"We gave the crowd something to cheer about. I think both captains wanted to make a game of it," said Cronje.

On the game itself, the South African skipper gave credit to the batsmen who had won it for England.

Michael Vaughan scored 69 - his highest Test score - while Alex Stewart went four better with 73.

"Credit to Vaughan and Stewart who did very well but our bowlers came back to give us a chance," said Cronje.

Meanwhile Hussain was happy to enjoy a rare victory.

"I'm very pleased for the team who have worked very hard for three months," he said.

"They deserved a bit of fun and a bit of success.

"We had a good day today and we don't have too many of them."