Durban, Dec. 29: Living up to the number one rank has been a burden India have had to carry for the whole of 2010. Their status was first questioned when the South Africans inflicted an innings-defeat at Nagpur early this year, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men did their cause no good, getting mauled by the Sri Lankans at Galle over the past summer.

When India were clobbered at Centurion a week ago despite the string of wins in the build-up to this tour, it was the last straw it seemed.

After Wednesday though, there’s will be no more pointed fingers, at least for a while. India closed out a series-levelling 87-run victory over the hosts just before tea on Day Four of the Boxing Day Test at the Kingsmead here on Wednesday — their second ever on Proteas’ soil.

Chasing 303 for an improbable win, South Africa were bundled out for 215. Number six Ashwell Prince (39 not out, 108b) tried to do a Laxman with collaborative efforts of 27 and 33 with tailenders Paul Harris (7) and Morne Morkel (20) for the eighth and ninth wicket respectively, but ran out of partners in the end.

The win keeps the series alive with the teams locked 1-1 in the three-match affair, the last of which begins in Cape Town on January 2.

India’s bowlers didn’t put a foot wrong on the day with firebrand pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (3/35), in particular, reining himself in just enough to stay at the batsmen’s throats without going overboard.

Things were on an even keel when the play started, the hosts perhaps more pleased than Dhoni to see bright blue skies in the morning after heavy rain had swept across Durban last night.

However it took just one ball from the pacer in the eighth over of the day — an unplayable snorter that smacked overnight batsman Jacques Kallis (17) on the knuckles on the way to gully — to open the floodgates

At that stage, South Africa were 123/4 with AB de Villiers on strike with the consistent Mark Boucher still to come. Teams had fought back from seemingly hopeless situations earlier as well, but Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh didn’t let the breakthrough go to waste. Harbhjan benefited from the lack of the Umpire Decision Review System when De Villiers was given out leg before wicket by Asad Rauf and looked extremely unhappy as replays suggested that the offie’s ball was going over.

There was even more surprise when Steve Davis raised his finger at the other end to send Mark Boucher (1) on his way lbw — Zaheer the bowler this time with the delivery seemingly headed well over off stump.

That left the Proteas in dire trouble at 143/6 and Dale Steyn helped Prince add 12 more before he too departed. Zaheer was again the wicket-taker with the batsman this time chasing a wide delivery that was edged straight to Cheteshwar Pujara at gully for 10.

At 155/7, India were ready to mop up the tail and finish off the Test in the first session itself. But Prince took a leaf out of V.V.S. Laxman’s book, shunning risks and scoring in singles.

Then came the revival as Prince and Harris started restoring some pride to the tattered SA innings. They carried on for 10-odd overs, before Morkel took over and batted for an hour. It only delayed the inevitable.

Scoreboard
India I innings 205
South Africa I innings 131
India II innings 228
South Africa II innings (o/n: 111/3)
J. Kallis c Sehwag b Sreesanth 17 (52b, 2x4), AB de Villiers lbw Harbhajan 33 (76b, 1x6), A. Prince (not out) 39 (108b, 3x4), M. Boucher lbw b Zaheer 1 (6b), D. Steyn c Pujara b Zaheer 10 (24b, 2x4), P. Harris b Zaheer 7 (28b), M. Morkel c Dhoni b Ishant 20 (47b, 3x4), L. Tsotsobe (run out/ Pujara) 0 (2b), Extras (lb-1, nb-8) 9
Total (all out; 72.3 overs) 215
FoW: 1-63, 2-82, 3-82, 4-123, 5-136, 6-143, 7-155, 8-182, 9-215
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 17-3-57-3, Ishant Sharma 11.3-0-36-1, S. Sreesanth 14-2-45-3, Harbhajan Singh 29-5-70-2, S. Tendulkar 1-0-6-0
Indian won by 87 runs
3-match series level at 1-1
Man of the match: VVS Laxman

Stats speak

* India’s win in the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead, was only second victory in 15 Test matches in South Africa and seventh overall in 27 Test matches against the Proteas.
* Their first victory over South Africa came at Johannesburg in 2006-07 when visitors won by 123 runs under Rahul Dravid
* It was India's 36th win in 218 away matches and 109th in 447matches in Test cricket.
* Of 36 overseas victories achieved by India, five each has come in England, Australia and New Zealand. Four each in West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, three in Zimbabwe and two each in Pakistan and South Africa.
* India's 87-run win was fourth overseas victory in eight Tests under Mahendra Singh Dhoni and 14 overall in 23 Test matches.