Durban, Dec. 28: Head bowed, he walked to the pavilion having fallen four runs short of what would have been his 17th hundred. Another eight more runs and his knock would have gone past Pravin Amre’s 103 as the highest by an Indian at this ground.

But V.V.S. Laxman knew he had played his part by coming good on his huge second innings reputation — his 96 helping India set a 303-run target for the South Africans on the third day of the second Test at the Kingsmead here on Tuesday.

The hosts took some of the gloss off India’s 228 in the second essay, managing 111/3 by stumps, 192 away from an improbable win with two days to spare.

But unless they can battle conditions, tackle Harbhajan Singh’s spin and in the process create history by becoming only the second team ever to beat India chasing a 300-plus score, the Laxman-powered Indians would fancy their chances of a series-levelling win a bit more than their rivals.

Laxman did not knuckle down like Rahul Dravid or go hell for leather like Virender Sehwag of Day Two — he chose a middle path by punishing the bad balls for fours and getting right behind those that needed to be respected. In the first session, under sunny skies, he added 48 runs for the seventh wicket with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (21) and then put on 70 runs with Zaheer Khan (27) for the ninth wicket.

The two partnerships in about a session-and-a-half of batting carried India from a precarious 93/5 to 218/7 — potentially turning the match around.

Laxman and his partners, however, benefitted from relatively easier batting conditions. The sun beat down after two days of playing hide and seek and the lack of wind ensured there was little moisture remaining on the pitch by the time play started.

Laxman looked in control during his 49th Test fifty, working the singles around and caressed the odd ones to the boundaries. It looked like the tail would wrap up early when Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh went back in quick succession, and Zaheer started taking wild swipes at the ball. But Laxman gave the nervous No. 9 support, giving him enough deliveries against the less lethal bowlers Jacques Kallis and Paul Harris to play himself in.

At that stage, India looked to have got enough runs on board, but the home side made a superb start to their run-chase with Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen (26) putting on 63 runs for the first wicket off just 76 balls, putting the pressure back on Dhoni.

It was left to a well-directed bouncer and a very vocal Sreesanth to induce a mistake from the rival skipper. Smith suffered a rush of blood to the head and played an awful hook shot towards square-leg where Dhoni had no trouble in running around to take a simple catch.

Smith’s dismissal heralded the start of a South African collapse as the hosts lost three wickets for the addition of just 19 runs.

Scoreboard

India I innings 205
South Africa I innings 131
India II innings (o/n: 92/4)
VVS Laxman c Boucher b Steyn 96 (171b, 12x4), C. Pujara b Morkel 10 (56b, 1x4), MS Dhoni c Boucher b Tsotsobe 21 (35b, 4x4), Harbhajan Singh c Kallis b Morkel 4 (7b), Zaheer c de Villiers b Harris 27 (63b, 4x4), Ishant Sharma c Amla b Kallis 0 (16b), S. Sreesanth (not out) 0 (2b), Extras (b-8, lb-4, w-9) 21
Total (all out; 70.5 overs) 228
FoW:1-42, 2-44, 3-48, 4-56, 5-93, 6-141, 7-148, 8-218, 9-223
Bowling: Dale Steyn 15.5-1-60-2, M. Morkel 15-1-47-3, L. Tsotsobe 13-3-43-3, J. Kallis 13-2-30-1, P. Harris 14-2-36-1

South Africa II innings
G. Smith c Dhoni b Sreesanth 37 (38b, 5x4), A. Petersen c Pujara b Harbhajan 26 (45b, 4x4), H. Amla c Dhoni b Sreesanth 16 (16b, 3x4), J. Kallis (batting) 12 (28b, 2x4), AB de Villiers (batting) 17 (38b, 1x6), Extras (nb-3) 3
Total (for 3 wickets; 27 overs) 111
FoW: 1-63, 2-82, 3-82
Bowling: Zaheer 6-2-25-0, Ishant 5-0-21-0, Sreesanth 7-0-30-2, Harbhajan 8-0-29-1, Tendulkar 1-0-6-0.