By Avishek Roy, IANS
Ahmedabad : A.B. de Villiers was batting resolutely on 102 with his maiden Test century against India as South Africa reached 306 for four at lunch on day two of the second Test at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera here Friday.
Jacques Kallis was unbeaten on the other end on 97, and with de Villiers, he added 83 runs in the morning session and dashed hopes of India’s comeback after the hosts crumbled to 76 all out in the first innings. South Africa’s lead has now swelled to 230 runs with still a lot of batting to come.
Kallis and de Villiers, both overnight batsmen, played with determination and added 189 runs, a record fifth wicket stand between the two teams.
After India’s dramatic collapse Thursday morning, the second day’s first session also turned out to be unproductive for the hosts with the bowlers struggling to separate the duo. India had their chances but luck deserted them.
Skipper Anil Kumble started the day’s proceedings with Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, who had taken three wickets on the opening day.
A Harbhajan delivery turned and as Kallis fended it off, the ball rolled and hit the stumps, but the bails didn’t fall.
Few strong leg before appeals were turned down because of the height and some run out chances were wasted.
Riding their luck, Kallis and de Villiers piled agony on the hosts.
De Villiers was not shy of punishing the bad deliveries and brought about his fifth Test century in 174 balls with the help of 11 boundaries, just before lunch. The Kallis innings was studded with an equal number of boundaries and one six. But it took 223 deliveries.
The only positive for India in the session was Sreesanth’s spell with the new ball. He ran in with passion and bowled fast after Kumble decided to take the new ball in the 82nd over.
Both Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh troubled Kallis and De Villiers with the new ball and were turned down on a few close calls. Sreesanth in particular was impressive against Kallis and troubled him with some good short-pitched stuff. Kallis was made to jump around as the pitch looked good to be exploited by the pacers.
A nasty Sreesanth bouncer hit Kallis’ helmet just a delivery before the batsmen pulled him to the mid-wicket fence.
In between India missed a run out chance as Rudra Pratap failed to collect a throw even as De Villiers were far short of the crease. Shoddy fielding also did not help India’s cause.