Harbhajan reaped the benefits during a tidy seven-over spell

Off-spinner Harbhajan took 3-26 and seam bowler Patel proved his recovery from an ankle problem with figures of 2-25 from eight overs.

Sourav Ganguly also picked up two wickets before the match ended with the home side on 243-8.

India made 271-6 declared in their innings on the opening day.

And the performances of players not involved in the first Test against South Africa put them in good heart ahead of Tuesday's second match of the series.

Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth shared the new ball at the start of play, but Patel was soon into the action and quickly won an lbw decision against Fabian Lazarus, who departed for nine.

Former skipper Ganguly then claimed the wickets of Ross McMillan (36) and Martin Bekker (14) to reduce KwaZulu-Natal to 104-3 before a stand of 97 in 18 overs between Rivash Gobind and Morne van Vuuren halted their decline.

Irfan Pathan, in particular, came in for punishment, conceding 74 from 11 overs without managing a single wicket.

Gobind reached 88 before he was stumped off Harbhajan and Patel returned to send van Vuuren on his way with the help of VVS Laxman's second catch of the innings after he had hit three sixes in his 50 off 53 balls.

Harbhajan also removed Cedric Mabuya and Ugasen Govender as the home side lost five wickets for 29 runs in the space of nine overs, the other taken by seamer VRV Singh, who claimed his reward for an accurate spell when he had Robert Frylick caught by Wasim Jaffer.