SA well placed for victory push

Durban—The fall of Rahul Dravid, who copped his second rough decision of the match, just minutes before bad light brought an expected but premature end to the fourth day's play, left India precariously poised at 38 for 2 with a day left to try and hang on to their 1-0 series lead. The target of 354 looks beyond reach and South Africa are in with a very good chance of squaring the series, if the weather permits.
It was never going to be easy for India, coming out to bat in their second essay about an hour before tea. Virender Sehwag, who is in the middle of a lean patch, poked defensively at a ball from Makhaya Ntini and only managed an edge to first slip, where Graeme Smith gleefully gobbled up the offering. Dravid was out in the middle in just the fifth over, with 14 on the board. India desperately needed a solid start, if they were to keep South Africa at bay and defend their 1-0 series lead, but they got the exact opposite.
Dravid played defensively at a fullish ball and missed, with his bat brushing his pad. The appeal for the catch behind was spontaneous, and Asad Rauf, the umpire, had also heard the sound, and believing it to be bat making contact with pad, upheld the appeal. It was a close one, and replays showed daylight between bat and ball, but to be fair to Rauf, this would have been hard to pick up with the naked eye. All the same, it was a desperate setback for India.
For cricket lovers, though, it was a day to savour as the pendulum swung this way and that before coming to rest firmly in South Africa's favour. South Africa strung together three vital partnerships in the course of their innings - the first, worth 99, at the top of the innings between AB de Villiers and Smith, the second, worth 70 for the seventh wicket between Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hall, and finally an energetic eighth-wicket stand of 52 between Pollock and Morne Morkel.
But in between the first partnership and the other two there was plenty of excitement. India fought back strongly after the 99-run opening partnership to wrest the initiative from South Africa. Wickets tumbled in a heap, cheaply, and India briefly harboured hopes of forcing a positive result. When the day began India were on the back foot and looking worriedly at the burgeoning South African lead. All that changed.
Smith and de Villiers were doing exactly what was needed of them, picking off the runs and putting the pressure on India. For once Smith was among the runs, and de Villiers looked completely at ease at the crease. VRV Singh struck, against the run of play, when one ball bounced a touch extra and took the outside edge. Laxman took a good catch low down in the slips cordon, and de Villiers was gone for 47 with the score on 99.
Sreesanth, who was nearing the end of a longish spell, won an lbw appeal against Hashim Amla, who fell across his stumps and was rapped on the pad.—Agencies