Few Indians will have forgotten Lance Klusener's first Test century, at Cape Town four years ago. His unbeaten 102 (from a mere 100 balls) was the difference between a big total and a huge one. Till that afternoon at Newlands, most of them thought of him as the poor soul on the wrong end of a fearful pounding from an inspired Mohammad Azharuddin at the Eden Gardens. Azhar and Sachin Tendulkar did carve him apart when he came on to bowl later in the match but his bat – which could at times be confused with the Hammer of Thor – had already done the damage. Ominously for the Indians, Klusener has never made a Test hundred in vain. His second ton came against England at Port Elizabeth two years ago. When he strode to the crease, the Englishmen were wreathed in smiles and the scoreboard read 146 for 5. By the time he bade them au revoir, they looked like mugging victims – 174 runs had been spanked off just 221 deliveries. The match eventually finished with England struggling to salvage a draw.

The third century was even better. On Muttiah Muralitharan's stomping-ground at Kandy, South Africa resembled straws in the wind as they stumbled to 34 for 5. Then along came the Unharmonious Blacksmith – with all apologies to Handel – to play the innings of his life. On a track that was turning square, he blocked and bludgeoned his way to 118 as South Africa reached the respectable score of 253. They went on to win the Test by seven runs and draw the series 1-1. Without Klusener's hammer, all that would have remained in the realms of fantasy.

Today's hundred, another one that made a big total much bigger, had a bit of everything – the good, the bad and the very ugly. Some of Klusener's strokes off his pads and straight down the ground were just magnificent, power and timing perfectly synchronised. The playing and missing – especially against Kumble – was less elegant, a bit like an old lady flinging her handbag about. And then there were the downright hideous top-edged boundaries, which more than once turned poor Srinath into a hapless spectator in mid-pitch.

Not that aesthetics bother Klusener. Like the ace football strikers who know that their next goal will atone for the last miss, he pays little attention to slices of fortune. He just pats the soil outside the crease and gets on with what he does best. And with an appetite for destruction like his, the damage – both on the scoreboard and in the minds of the fielding side – can be considerable. The next two days will tell if India can overcome the trauma of being pounded flat over the anvil.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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