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Page last updated at 16:23 GMT, Monday, 3 January 2011

India's Tendulkar and Gambhir frustrate South Africa

Third Test, Cape Town (day two, close):
South Africa 362 v India 142-2

Venue: Newlands Dates: 2-6 January Start time: 0830 GMT
Coverage: Live on Sky Sports 2; reports and scorecards on BBC Sport website
Match scorecard

Jacques Kallis celebrates his 39th Test hundred
Kallis scored his seventh Test hundred and highest score at Newlands

A 114-run stand between Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar steadied India's reply after South Africa were all out for 362 on day two of the third Test.

A magnificent 161 from Jacques Kallis, the 39th of his Test career, was the highlight of the day at Cape Town.

Sreesanth was the pick of the Indian bowlers, finishing with 5-114.

India's innings wobbled at 28-2 in the second session, but Gambhir (65) and Tendulkar (49) remained unbeaten at the close as India finished on 142-2.

The third-wicket duo were not without their share of fortune - Gambhir was dropped on 60 while a thick outside edge from Tendulkar just evaded Ashwell Prince at third slip during the early stages of his innings.

But both batsmen displayed impressive resolve to thwart South Africa's three-pronged seam attack offered assistance by the pitch and by the ball moving in the air.

MOST CAREER TEST HUNDREDS
50: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
39: Ricky Ponting (Aus), Jacques Kallis (SA)
34: Sunil Gavaskar (Ind), Brian Lara (WI)
32: Steve Waugh (Aus)

However, the day was once again dominated by the indefatigable Kallis, who equalled Australia skipper Ricky Ponting's mark of 39 career Test centuries, a number exceeded only by Tendulkar.

It was also the highest of seven Test centuries by the all-rounder at Newlands, his home ground, and his second of the three-match series.

Resuming on 81 not out, Kallis added 30 runs to the overnight total of 232-4 alongside Ashwell Prince with relatively little trouble as India's seamers struggled to break the fifth-wicket pair.

But the course of the game changed drastically when the tourists took the second new ball as Sreesanth ripped through the lower-middle order with a mesmeric spell of world-class swing bowling.

The 27-year-old reduced the hosts to 283-8, with four wickets falling in the space of 26 balls.

He bowled Prince with a perfect inswinger, through bat and pad, before removing Mark Boucher for a golden duck with his next delivery, edging a thin outside edge to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel fell soon after but Kallis maintained his aggressive mentality as well as showing impeccable judgement batting with the tail.

Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar is one run short of his 60th Test half century

The 35-year-old added 79 valuable runs batting alongside Paul Harris and number 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe, taking his score from 100 to 161 before he was caught behind off Zaheer Khan.

His century came off 209 deliveries while his next 61 were scored off only 82 deliveries, adding 10 boundaries to the nine in his first 100.

However, Kallis' endeavours came a price as he aggravated a side strain during his innings, forcing him off the field for most of India's innings.

Tendulkar and Gambhir got India's innings back on track after Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid were dismissed cheaply at 28-2.

Opener Sehwag skewed a drive to Graeme Smith at mid-off before Dravid was run out by a sensational piece of fielding by AB de Villiers, who shattered the wicket from the slips after Gambhir had been dropped by Alviro Petersen at third slip.

South Africa's pace trio targeted Gambhir with the short ball but while the left-hander showed moments of indecision, the majority of his 159 deliveries were played with soft hands and solid technique.

Given excellent support by Tendulkar, the top Test run scorer of 2010, Gambhir frustrated South Africa with an obdurate innings - although he was dropped on 60 when AB de Villiers dropped a thick outside edge at second slip off the unfortunate Tsotsobe in the latter stages of the final session.



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see also
Kallis defies India in final Test
02 Jan 11 |  Cricket
Sehwag to miss SA one-day series
30 Dec 10 |  Cricket
India beat SA to set up decider
29 Dec 10 |  Cricket
India in South Africa 2010-11
18 Jan 11 |  Cricket


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