POTCHEFSTROOM (South Africa), Dec 9: India beat the Rest of South Africa by 96 runs with a day to spare at the Sedgars Park here on Saturday.

Set to make 321 to win, the Rest were bowled out for 224, with Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh taking three wickets apiece.

Only a century stand between Vaughn van Jaarsveld (66) and Justin Kemp (53) delayed the tourists as they hurried to victory in their only first-class warm-up match before the first of three Tests against South Africa, starting in Johannesburg Friday.Earlier, the last three Indian wickets added 49 runs on Saturday as the tourists finished with a second innings total of 142.

All-rounder Irfan Pathan remained unbeaten on 40, adding to his 111 not out in the first innings. Batting at number seven, he was the top-scorer in both innings in a poor match for India's top order batsmen.

Swing bowler Alfonso Thomas took two of the last three wickets for figures of seven for 56.—AFP