India went into stumps at 190-2 here at SuperSport Park on Saturday, trailing by a massive 294 runs, but displayed first signs of a top-ranked Test nation courtesy of a 137-run opening stand
Just when it appeared that India openers Virender Sehwag (63) and Gautam Gambhir (80) had sown the seeds for a remarkable comeback in the first Test against South Africa, a few late strikes inched the hosts closer to a 1-0 series lead. India went into stumps at 190-2 here at SuperSport Park on Saturday, trailing by a massive 294 runs, but displayed first signs of a top-ranked Test nation courtesy of a 137-run opening stand.
South Africa's pace-attack continued to extract lots of bounce off the surface but the lack of lateral movement in the air or off the pitch made it easier for the Delhi duo to trust their strokes. Sehwag looked good for a ton until he mistimed a juicy wide-outside-off delivery from Paul Harris to a sprinting Graeme Smith at mid-off. Thereafter, Gambhir was trapped leg-before wicket by Dale Steyn just 20 minutes before the close of play.
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"We can still save the Test match," a confident Gambhir said after the day. "It is a very good batting surface and there's enough quality in our batting line-up to get the job done. Our bowlers would have done well if they got first use of this pitch," the southpaw added.u00a0
In a day predominantly dominated by the willow, Jacques Kallis brought up his maiden Test double century and AB de Villiers entertained a packed Saturday crowd with 112-ball blitzkrieg of 129 as South Africa declared on 620-4, taking a first-innings lead of 484. South Africa's innings had everything - a scratchy 77 from Alviro Peterson, a workmanlike hundred from Hashim Amla, and in the end a belligerent knock by local boy, De Villiers, all of which circled around the anchor, Kallis. The hosts dominated via a steep innings run-rate of 4.76, with both Kallis and de Villiers smashing five sixes each.
"It feels good to finally get the double century out of the way. I am glad I don't have to answer that question anymore. From here on, it's just about winning the Test match," Kallis told reporters after the day's play.
"I would have taken this (double century that has eluded him for so long) even against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. But obviously to play a big role in a big series like this (against the No1 Test team) makes it more special," he added. "We wanted to score quickly because we had an eye on the weather. AB's knock was one of the best I have seen in my life. It helped me play me to the double."
The fact that the early morning dismissal of Amla came off a faint edge down the leg side off Sharma's bowling just summed up the scenario. S Sreesanth started to shape the ball nicely but there was marginal improvement.
However, it seemed like India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his faith in Sreesanth, removing the Kerala speedster after just a three-over burst in the pre-lunch session.
On Friday, too, Sreesanth was given just two slips and a gully before being prematurely removed from
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