Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh ripped through the South African top order on Wednesday to ignite India’s hopes of victory in the second cricket Test.
Singh claimed four for 58 to reduce South Africa to 172 for five in the second innings, just 66 runs ahead after deducting India’s first-innings lead of 106.
India had posted 411 in response to South Africa’s first-innings total of 305.
Singh first rattled South Africa by dismissing opener Andrew Hall (21) and Jacques Rudolph (3) in successive overs before tea, then returned to remove skipper Graeme Smith (71) and Hashim Amla (2).
Smith shared a brisk 77-run opening stand with Hall, who struck one six and three boundaries off 63 deliveries. Hall was caught behind by Dinesh Karthik while attempting a sweep-shot off Singh.
Rudolph lasted just 10 minutes and was adjudged lbw padding up to a delivery that broke into him.
Smith struck 11 boundaries from 124 deliveries during his 160-minute knock. The Proteas skipper posted his first half-century against India in two tests before he edged a ball to V Laxman at slip.
Rookie Amla fell to a bat-pad catch off Singh that also flew to Laxman.
Leg-spinner Anil Kumble dismissed Boeta Dippenaar (2) to leave South Africa facing a possible defeat at the end of the fourth day’s play.
Keeping South Africa in the contest was Jacques Kallis, unbeaten on 52 at stumps, with Zander de Bruyn on nine not out.
Kallis, who scored a compact century in the first innings, edged a sharp turner from Singh into the hands of Gautam Gambhir at forward short-leg, but Australian umpire Daryl Harper turned down the appeal in the last over before tea.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly led the appealing fielders’ chorus, and the Indian players made no attempt to hide the disappointment when the appeal was rejected. Showing dissent at umpiring decisions can amount of violation of the conduct code for players.
”The players’ passions and emotions do tend to flare up when things don’t go your way,” said India coach John Wright, who asserted that his team had seized the initiative.
”We have more depth in spin, and that is turning out to be the major factor in this test,” Wright said. ”We have to speed up things and try to win the series.”
Kallis, who was then on two, did not provide the Indian bowlers another chance, even as wickets tumbled at the other end. He hit four boundaries from 90 balls in his unbeaten two-hour knock.
Kumble’s dismissal of Dippenaar boosted his test haul to 432, just two behind former captain Kapil Dev’s Indian record on 434.
Having claimed 62 wickets in 10 tests during the current year, Kumble leads the table of maximum dismissals by a bowler from any country in 2004.
Earlier, India’s tailenders bolstered its first-innings lead, even as the home side took two hours to compile 52 runs.
Resuming at the overnight score of 359 for six, India was pegged back by the accurate South African fast bowlers, operating with the new ball that was taken at the start of the day.
Irfan Pathan was the first man out for 24, adding just three to his overnight score before edging pace bowler Makhaya Ntini to Smith at first slip.
Ntini then had Kumble (8) caught by second slip Kallis to return a haul of four for 112.
Paceman Shaun Pollock denied Karthik his maiden test half-century by trapping him lbw for 46, which contained six
boundaries from 147 deliveries.
Pollock had figures of two for 101.
The last pair of Singh (14) and Zaheer Khan (11 not out) added 24 runs in 38 minutes to take India past the 400-run mark and stretch the lead beyond hundred.
Singh fell as he tried a reverse-sweep off leg-spinner Justin Ontong’s first delivery Wednesday and holed out to Dippenaar. – Sapa-AP