Jacques Kallis performed his periwinkle act to perfection and effectively shut the door on India's hopes of keeping this series alive. Periwinkles - tiny shell-like creatures - cling on to rocks battered by the roughest waves, even as far bigger objects get swept away. This afternoon, Kallis kept his composure long after more gifted strokemakers lost theirs, riding his luck to remain on course for a third Test hundred of 2001. This calendar year has already seen him score 884 Test runs at an almost Bradmanesque average of 73.66. That tally includes two centuries and five fifties – one of which came today. His critics will tell you that almost half those runs came against an enfeebled Zimbabwe, but that won't bother him, or South Africa. No-one quibbles about the runs Bradman piled up against second-rate South African and Indian bowlers.

Watching Kallis construct an innings is a bit like observing a monk performing penance. Denial is almost always the name of the game. There is also the Zen-like calm - which he loses when batsmen smack his medium-pacers around - which reinforces that impression. Today was no different. When he came to the crease, South Africa were on a sticky wicket – treacle-sticky, in fact, with Javagal Srinath bowling a magnificent spell. It was 14 for 1 when he arrived at the crease. Less than 20 minutes later, it was 26 for 3. That was a pivotal moment in the game. Another couple of wickets at that stage and India might have fancied their chances of chasing a target of around 270 - something they achieved at Kandy two months ago.

That dream scenario didn't materialise, and by the close, Kallis - with the aid of valuable contributions from Dippenaar, Klusener and Pollock - had turned it into a nightmare. Throughout a tricky afternoon session, Kallis was utterly unflappable. Edged boundaries didn't even merit a shrug of the shoulders or a sigh of relief; instead he just knuckled down and ensured that the next ball went right off the meat of the bat.

There were two narrow escapes. Laxman dropped a sharp chance at second slip, and Srinath saw a top-edged hook clear his head and outstretched arms at deep square leg. But considering that two of the South African batsmen got ropey decisions from the umpires, India can't complain much about the rub of the green.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd