Close India 182 for 8 (Laxman 77*, Pollock 4-38) trail South Africa 362 (Gibbs 196, Boucher 68*, Srinath 6-76) by 180 runs
Scorecard

South Africa ended day two on top, and would have made India bat a second time had VVS Laxman not rediscovered the art of playing a substantial innings. His 63-run partnership with Anil Kumble, whose contribution was a valuable unbeaten 21, helped India avert the follow-on after their top order had caved in without a trace.

Shaun Pollock was the hero with the ball again, ending the day with figures of 4 for 38, including the scalps of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

Laxman's unbeaten 77 was his first half-century since his 66 in Chennai against Australia. And it was a knock which revived memories of his first-innings effort in the epic Kolkata Test. Then, he had batted with the tail and scored 59, but it wasn't enough to save the follow-on.

After bowling out South Africa for 362, India started disastrously. SS Das opened with Deep Dasgupta, but contrary to expectations, Das, the regular opener, fell first. Pollock cut one back into Das and hit him on the front pad, in line with off and middle stumps. Umpire Ian Howell, who had steadfastly refused to raise his finger for several earlier appeals, finally consented. Replays showed that it was a poor decision, as Das had got an inside edge.

Dravid had a day to forget. After dropping a sitter from Boucher in the first session, he became Pollock's second victim, bowled through the gate for 2 by one that nipped off the seam.

And when Tendulkar (1) fetched a short ball from outside off stump and pulled it straight to Lance Klusener at midwicket, Pollock must have thought Christmas had come early.

Dasgupta showed a lot of pluck and batted 79 minutes for 10 runs, but his gritty vigil ended when Makhaya Ntini slipped in a straight, fast ball that kept a shade low and crashed into middle stump.

Ganguly showed positive intent, and stroked Jacques Kallis for four boundaries in one over, as India went into tea at 63 for 4.

The flourish was short-lived though. Pollock brought himself back into the attack after tea, and struck in his second over, knocking back Ganguly's off stump. Ganguly had been softened up by a short ball in the groin, and he paid the price for his reticence, playing from the crease as Pollock pitched the ball up. His 42 came off just 46 balls with seven fours.

Virender Sehwag combined with Laxman for a mini-revival, adding 42 for the sixth wicket, but Kallis broke through when Sehwag (13) steered him carelessly to point, where Gary Kirsten completed a fine low catch.

Ajit Agarkar (1) gave catching practice to Mark Boucher and five balls later, Harbhajan Singh was run out following a misunderstanding with Laxman. But Laxman found an unlikely ally in Kumble, who mixed defense with some expansive, albeit risky drives.

India averted the follow-on when Laxman dabbed Pollock to the unmanned third-man boundary. The floodlights came on soon, but play was still called off for bad light with 4.3 overs to spare.

Earlier, Boucher rode his luck and played some audacious shots on his way to an unbeaten 68, which took South Africa to 362.

India made an encouraging start on a clear, sunny morning. Srinath gave them the breakthrough in his third over of the day, getting rid of Pollock with a well pitched-up delivery that was driven straight to Harbhajan at point.

Boucher began aggressively, but should have been dismissed off the penultimate ball of the first hour, when Dravid, normally a very safe catcher, dropped a sitter. Boucher top-edged a sweep, Dravid ran back a few yards from first slip, waited as the ball hovered in the air, juggled with it, and then, horror of horrors, put it down. Boucher was on 31 at the time.

Gibbs and Boucher added 80 for the seventh wicket, and threatened to take the game away from India. Quiet for the first hour, Gibbs had got into his stride with three fours in three overs off Harbhajan and Kumble.

Ganguly turned to Tendulkar for succour, and he needed just five balls to do what the frontline bowlers hadn't managed for almost four sessions. Gibbs tried to force a wide ball past backward point, but found Sehwag at gully. Gibbs fell for 196, at which stage he had contributed more than 60 percent of India's score.

Kumble trapped Nicky Boje in front, and Srinath had Ntini holing out at square leg, as South Africa went into lunch at 353 for 9. Srinath wrapped up the innings shortly after, going through the defenses of Hayward.

Teams
India 1 Shiv Sunder Das, 2 Deep Dasgupta (wk), 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 7 Virender Sehwag, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Ajit Agarkar, 11 Javagal Srinath

South Africa 1 Gary Kirsten, 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Boeta Dippenaar, 5 Neil McKenzie, 6 Lance Klusener, 7 Shaun Pollock (capt), 8 Mark Boucher (wk), 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Nantie Hayward, 11 Makhaya Ntini

S Rajesh is a sub-editor at Wisden.com India.

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