KOLKATA, Nov 28: Jacques Kallis hit his 17th Test century but India's fast bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to restrict South Africa to 227 for five on the first day of the second and final Test on Sunday.
The 29-year-old top-scored with 103 not out, his first hundred against India and fourth this year. However, wickets tumbled at the other end as left-arm seamers Irfan Pathan, with three for 61, and Zaheer Khan, two for 46, bowled incisively on a wicket offering early seam movement.
They each struck once early in the morning, removing openers Graeme Smith (0) and Andrew Hall (7) to reduce the visitors to 21 for two. Kallis and Jacques Rudolph rescued the side with a stand of 109 for the third wicket but South Africa were in trouble again after Zaheer removed Rudolph for a dogged 61.
Pathan returned to dismiss debutant Hashim Amla for 24 and Boeta Dippenaar (1) as the visitors tumbled to 182 for five. Zander de Bruyn, who scored 83 on debut in the drawn first Test in Kanpur, was 15 not out when bad light ended play for the day 6.3 overs ahead of schedule.
South Africa batted slowly at around 2.7 runs an over. Pathan, back after missing the last three Tests, struck off only the second ball when he had South Africa captain Smith edging to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.
Smith had been cleared to play in the morning after a car ran over his foot in a freak accident on Saturday. Zaheer got the second breakthrough in his third over, having Hall, who had scored a career-best 163 in Kanpur, caught behind with a ball that was angling away.
Rudolph, batting with an off-stump guard, got into his stride with four fluent boundaries and looked more solid as the wicket became easier for batting after the first hour.
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings):
G.C. Smith c Karthik b Pathan 0
A.J. Hall c Karthik b Zaheer 7
J.A. Rudolph b Zaheer 61
J.H. Kallis not out 103
H. Amla b Pathan 24
H.H. Dippenaar c Karthik b Pathan 1
Z. de Bruyn not out 15
EXTRAS (LB-9, NB-7) 16
TOTAL (for five wkts, 83.3 overs) 227
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-21, 3-130, 4-176, 5-182.
TO BAT: S.M. Pollock, J.L. Ontong, T.L. Tsolekile, M. Ntini.
BOWLING (to-date): Irfan Pathan 22-4-61-3 (1nb); Zaheer Khan 16.3-4-46-2 (6nb); Kumble 18-3-48-0; Ganguly 3-2-1-0; Harbhajan 21-6-54-0; Tendulkar 3-0-8-0.
INDIA: V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir, R. Dravid, S.R. Tendulkar, S.C. Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, K.K.D. Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, A. Kumble, Zaheer Khan.
UMPIRES: D.J. Harper and S.J.A. Taufel (both Australia).
TV UMPIRE: I. Sivaram (India).
MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand). -Reuters