 India respond well to South Africa's run mountain
27th Mar 2008 21:00 IST
Agencies
Earlier, resuming at 304/4, South Africa maintained their upper hand in the first two sessions and almost every batsman contributed his mite to hoist their first innings total to a commanding 540 before being all out.
The visitors began this morning from exactly where they had left it yesterday and boundaries came thick and fast with both overnight batsmen Hashim Amla (159) and AB de Villiers (44) showing scant respect for India's ragged bowling attack.
Realising the futility of pace, India skipper Anil Kumble began with spin attacks from both ends but neither he nor Harbhajan Singh could make a dent as both the batsmen looked rock solid.
Amla chose S Sreesanth for special treatment and hit the Kerala speedster for three successive boundaries to breeze to his first century against India and there was no let up even after he achieved the milestone.
At the other end, de Villiers too showed scant respect for the hosts' bowlers and played his natural strokes.
He looked set for a half century before the right-hander chased a Sreesanth delivery outside the off-stump and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a smart catch behind the stumps.
That marked the end of his 66-run stand with Amla.
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