S.Africa takes 418 run lead helped by de Villiers double hundred

The Indian cricket teams soul was destroyed on Friday by South Africas A.B. de Villiers (batting 217) and by Jacques Kallis who scored his 30th Test century.

Ahmedabad, Apr.4 : The Indian cricket team's soul was destroyed on Friday by South Africa's A.B. de Villiers (batting 217) and by Jacques Kallis who scored his 30th Test century.

Taking a lead of 418 runs, the Proteas have all but quashed India's chances of making any sort of comeback in the match, and if they do, it will be nothing short of a miracle.For the record, South Africa scored 494 for 7 in the 77.2 overs bowled in the day, losing just three wickets, two of those after tea.At the close of play, de Villiers was batting with an undefeated on 217, the highest Test score by a South African against India, and giving him company was Paul Harris on nine.

Of the three wickets that well, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh picked up one each, while S. Sreesanth picked up the wicket of Kallis.

de Villiers played some stupendous strokes during his rollicking double hundred, which included a huge six off Harbhajan that landed on the roof of the Motera Stadium.

As a weary Indian side trudged off, a defeat of mammoth proportions loomed before them.

Harbhajan, the pick of the bowlers, was desperately unlucky against both batsmen. Kallis had made just 61 when he fended one awkwardly off the glove, only to see it roll back and strike the stumps. The bails stayed on, Harbhajan held his head, and the chance had gone. In his very next over, an offbreak went right through de Villiers, missing the stumps by a whisker.

Irfan Pathan was insipid with the old ball, and Kumble soon replaced him at the other end, but the runs slowly started to mount as the pitch showed few signs of menace. de Villiers cut Harbhajan for four, and Kumble was then far from thrilled as a Kallis cover-drive was fumbled over the rope by Sourav Ganguly.

Despite slightly overcast conditions, Kumble didn't call on Sreesanth. By the time the new ball was taken after 81.2 overs, whatever little moisture that might have been in the pitch was long gone. Sreesanth soon made an impact too, striking Kallis on the shoulder with a bouncer and then having an excellent leg-before shout turned down.

Once the initial threat posed by the new ball passed, the runs came freely. de Villiers flicked R P Singh for four and then glanced Sreesanth fine, before Kallis highlighted his power with two contemptuous pulls for four. On the stroke of lunch, Ganguly came on, and a paddle down to fine leg saw de Villiers reach his fifth Test century.

Kallis was on 97 at the time, and the 30th century that took him past Sir Donald Bradman arrived soon after the interval, with a magnificent cover-drive for four off Ganguly. It had been a stolid and at times fortuitous effort, spanning 228 balls, but vital in the context of the match after Harbhajan's three quick wickets on the first afternoon.

The 200-run partnership came from 401 balls, and the runs were milked with ease after that. Pathan was pedestrian at best and Kumble merely restrictive. Both men played the sweep with increasing confidence and it was quite bizarre that Sreesanth, the most effective Indian pace bowler on view, was called on only an hour and ten minutes after lunch.

Kallis swatted the first ball for four, and when an edge then streaked past slip, Sreesanth's frustration boiled over. But instead of self-destructing, he used the anger to produce a gem of a delivery that lifted from outside off stump and caught Kallis in two minds. By the time he tried to arc the bat away, it was too late and the inside edge cannoned into the stumps. He had batted six hours, and the partnership of 256 was South Africa's highest against India, surpassing the 236 that Gary Kirsten, currently India's coach, and Andrew Hudson added at the Eden Gardens in 1996-97.

A sparse crowd watched it all with a mixture of frustration and reluctant admiration. (ANI with inputs)

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