India held on for a draw in the third and final Test against South Africa at Newlands on Thursday after both teams squandered chances of victory at various stages of the game.
South Africa wrested control with a magnificent innings by Jacques Kallis on Wednesday just when things seemed to be swinging India’s way.
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The hosts then held the odds but possibly set India too high a target for them to take unnecessary risks in pursuit of victory and so they opted to play it safe instead.
The series was drawn 1-1 and India retained their number one spot on the ICC Test rankings list.
South Africa remained in position two with England hot on their heels after retaining the Ashes.
India began the day possibly looking to chase down the target of 340 runs but, once Virender Sehwag (11) lost his wicket cheaply, it was clear they would defend to the end.
Morne Morkel bowled back of a length and the ball nipped away and just caught the edge of Sehwag’ s bat and flew into the hands of Graeme Smith at first slip.
The third umpire had to confirm it was a legitimate delivery and Sehwag received his marching orders.
Gambhir, injured on the elbow at the end of his first innings, received another blow to the same spot in the second over of the morning but played with plenty of grit and determination as he shared a 79 run second-wicket stand with Rahul Dravid.
Lonwabo Tsotsobe picked up the wicket of Rahul Dravid, the wicket he richly deserved after he’d seen several catches put down off his bowling in both the Test and the series but this time Ashwell Prince made no mistake.
Looking to defend a short delivery off the front foot, Dravid edged the ball to third slip and was gone for 31.
Gambhir (64) edged Dale Steyn and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher but he was dropped earlier by AB de Villiers at silly point off Paul Harris.
Although he only added two more runs to his score after the misfield, he had faced a further 37-balls and, in the 12 overs he shared with Sachin Tendulkar, the pair only put on 14 runs — doing exactly what was required of them at this stage of the game.
Tendulkar and VVS Laxman saw their side home as the match ended with India 166 for the loss of three wickets. Tendulkar was unbeaten on 14 after facing 91 balls. He spent 146 minutes at the crease and did not score a boundary.
Laxman scored 32 off 67 balls, including four boundaries.
The bowlers toiled hard in the heat but were unable to exploit the few rough patches on a wicket which did not deteriorate as much as they’d hoped.
Jacques Kallis was man of the match and as well as the series for his double-century at Centurion and two hundreds in this Test, the second in particularly difficult circumstances as he was playing with bruised ribs and muscle strain. – Sapa