India battle after Kallis double

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Centurion, Dec. 18: After taking a battering for two days, India finally put up some resistance with a solid start to their second innings on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park on Saturday.

Faced with a massive first innings deficit of 484 runs, India reached 190/2 at the close. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag put on 137 for the first wicket before Sehwag was caught at wide long-off for 63 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Paul Harris.

Dale Steyn dismissed Gambhir for 80 with a ball which cut back and kept a little low shortly before bad light stopped play, leaving India with a huge task if they are to avoid defeat.

South Africa earlier piled up 620/4 declared, with Jacques Kallis hitting a maiden Test double century and AB de Villiers racing to the country’s fastest Test hundred. Kallis made 201 not out to remove one of the few blots on an otherwise outstanding Test career record.

Kallis, fifth on the all-time Test run-scorers list, was the only player in the top 15 not to have converted at least one century into a double. It was his 38th hundred in his 143rd Test match.

Spectators on the packed grass banks roared their approval when Kallis glanced Jaidev Unadkat to the fine leg boundary to reach the elusive landmark. Kallis removed his helmet, hugged batting partner De Villiers and acknowledged the applause with a broad smile.

In the next over De Villiers edged a loose drive against Ishant Sharma and was caught behind by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a spectacular 129, made off 112 balls.

De Villiers raced to his century off 74 balls with 11 fours and five sixes, beating the previous fastest, shared by Denis Lindsay, Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock, by 21 balls.

It was an extraordinary innings by De Villiers, who in his previous Test match scored a South African record 278 not out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last month. De Villiers played a dazzling array of strokes, from sweetly-timed drives and delicate cuts to reverse sweeps and fearless slog-sweeps over fielders placed on the mid-wicket boundary.

Scoreboard
India 1st innings 136

South Africa 1st innings
G. Smith c Dhoni b Harbhajan 62, A. Petersen c Gambhir b Harbhajan 77, H. Amla c Dhoni b Ishant 140, J. Kallis not out 201, AB de Villiers c Dhoni b Ishant 129
Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-4, w-2) 11
Total (in 130.1 overs)
620/4 decl.
FoW: 1-111, 2-166, 3-396, 4-620.
Bowling: Sreesanth 24-1-97-0, Ishant Sharma 27.1-2-120-2, Unadkat 26-4-101-0, Harbhajan 36-2-169-2, Raina 7-0-77-0, Tendulkar 10-1-51-0.

India 2nd innings
G. Gambhir lbw b Steyn 80, V. Sehwag c Smith b Harris 63, R. Dravid batting 28, I. Sharma batting 7
Extras (b-8, lb-1, nb-2, w-1) 12
Total (in 44.1 overs) 190/2
FoW: 1-137, 2-170.
Bowling: Steyn 12-4-38-1, Morkel 11-1-38-0, Tsotsobe 9.1-1-48-0, Harris 8-0-34-1, Kallis 4-1-23-0.

Pic Caption:

Virender Sehwag sways away from a bouncer during his 63-run knock on Day Three of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion on Saturday.