KANPUR, Nov 24: Indian spinners Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh were among the wickets but the first Test against South Africa ended in a dull draw here on Wednesday.
The pitch continued to be friendly to batsmen as the visiting side reached 169-4 at close after taking a 44-run first innings lead at the Green Park Stadium.
Jacques Kallis (28) and Boeta Dippenaar (31) batted through the last session of the day after Kartik and Harbhajan bagged two wickets each to instil some action in the proceedings.
Left-armer Kartik dismissed captain Graeme Smith (47) and Martin van Jaarsveld (13) in successive overs. Smith struck seven fours before he was caught by Gautam Gambhir at forward short-leg. Van Jaarsveld was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Kartik, who also had some other close shouts for LBW.
Off-spinner Harbhajan removed Andrew Hall (26) and Jacques Rudolph (two), both caught behind by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik. Earlier, paceman Makhaya Ntini grabbed three quick wickets as India were all out for 466 in reply to South Africa's first innings score of 510-9 declared.
India lost four wickets for 13 runs starting with Dravid, who was caught behind by wicket-keeper Thami Tsolekile. Laxman was bowled by an in-swinging delivery before Anil Kumble (nine) was also caught behind. The second and final Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from Sunday.
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 510-9 declared (A.J. Hall 163, Z. de Bruyn 83; A. Kumble 6-131).
INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 401-4):
V. Sehwag lbw b Hall 164
G. Gambhir c Tsolekile b Pollock 96
R. Dravid c Tsolekile b Ntini 54
S.R. Tendulkar b Hall 3
S.C. Ganguly c Peterson b de Bruyn 57
V.V.S. Laxman b Ntini 9
K.D.D. Karthik lbw b Pollock 1
A. Kumble c Tsolekile b Ntini 9
Harbhajan c Dippenaar b Peterson 17
Zaheer Khan b Hall 30
M. Kartik not out 0
EXTRAS (B-10, LB-9, NB-7) 26
TOTAL (all out, 134.4 overs) 466
FALL OF WKTS: 1-218, 2-294, 3-298, 4-394, 5-407, 6-408, 7-419, 8-420, 9-456.
BOWLING: Pollock 38-11-100-2; Ntini 39-0-135-3; Peterson 21-2-90-1; Hall 25.4-7-93-3; de Bruyn 11-3-29-0.
SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings):
G.C. Smith c Gambhir b Kartik 47
A.J. Hall c Karthik b Harbhajan 26
M. van Jaarsveld lbw b Kartik 13
J.H. Kallis not out 28
J.A. Rudolph c Karthik b Harbhajan 2
H.H. Dippenaar not out 31
EXTRAS (B-12, LB-5, NB-5) 22
TOTAL (for four wkts, 64 overs) 169
FALL OF WKTS: 1-67, 2-100, 3-110, 4-115.
BOWLING: Zaheer Khan 8-2-26-0; Kumble 21-8-52-0; Harbhajan Singh 16-5-39-2; Kartik 14-6-17-2; Tendulkar 5-0-1-18-0.
UMPIRES: D.J. Harper and S.J.A. Taufel (both Australia).
TV UMPIRE: A.V. Jayaprakash (India).
MATCH REFEREE: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Andrew Hall.
SECOND TEST: Kolkata, Nov 28-Dec 2. -Agencies