INDIAN bowlers strong reply after a solid start by SA

It was all Zaheer and Harbajan`s show today as they two scripted the late collapse of South Africa after two centuries by the top three batsmen and the contributed three wickets each in the collapse of the visitors.

It was a stunning collapse for the Proteas, who were at one stage cruising along courtesy fluent centuries by debutant Alviro Petersen (100) and Hashim Amla (114). 
At stumps, Wayne Parnell (2) and Morne Morkel (3) were at the crease for South Africa when play was called off early due to bad light.

The South Africans went into tea break at 228/2 but in a stunning reversal of fortunes, the so-far-off-colour Harbhajan picked up three wickets in the space of two overs to wreck the visiting line-up.

The off-spinner ended the day with figures of 23-2-63-3. Pace spearhead Zaheer also picked up three wickets conceding 77 runs in his 21 overs

Ishant Sharma too struck form and though he had just one wicket to show, the pace he generated in the final session rattled the visiting batsmen.

Earlier, Petersen became the third South African to slam a hundred on debut, while last match's double centurion Amla continued from where he had left off, scoring his ninth Test ton.

For most part of the day, Indian bowling was made to look ordinary by Petersen and Amla as they combined for a 209-run second-wicket stand before the middle order collapse let them the visitors down.

After losing skipper Graeme Smith (4), who was castled by Zaheer, South Africa recovered brilliantly through the partnership between Amla and Petersen which came off 304 balls.

For two sessions, South Africa were firmly in command before Zaheer took the prized scalps of both Amla and Petersen soon after the tea break.

from there on, Harbhajan also got into the groove as he dismissed all-rounder Jacques Kallis (10). VVS Laxman, who had dropped Amla at slips when the batsman was on 60, made amends for his earlier blooper when he took a tumbling catch off Harbhajan to get rid of Kallis.

Laxman, who has just recovered from a finger injury, took a running catch from the slip to complete it at short fine leg in 66th over of the match.

It opened the account for Harbhajan at his happy-hunting ground as the off-spinner put himself in line for yet another hat-trick at Eden Gardens bringing back the memories of 2001 series against Australia.

In an eventful 68th over, Harbhajan roared back into his eluding form dismissing Ashwell Prince (1) and Jean-Paul Duminy (0) -- both trapped leg before -- to script an exceptional turnaround for India.

Prince, who was out for a duck in the Nagpur Test, managed to open his account this time but didn't last too long when he was caught plumb in front of the middle-stump, bringing the crowd back on the feet.

In an identical dismissal off the very next ball, Harbhajan got rid of Duminy, who was also trapped in front playing to a top-spinner.

Harbhajan missed out on a hat-trick at the Eden, but the two dismissals in succession brought India back into the game in an astounding fashion as South Africa reeled at 253/6.

More drama followed when Zaheer, with a brilliant throw from mid-off, ran AB de Villiers (12) out as South Africans lost their seventh wicket in the final session of the day.

From the non-striker's end, de Villiers almost ran midway into the pitch before realising that there was no run to be taken as Zaheer executed the run-out.

Having gone wicket-less in the Nagpur Test, Ishant finally took his first wicket of the series when he dismissed Paul Harris (1) in the 44th over leaving South Africa at 255/8.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra also opened his account for the first time in this series when he took the scalp of Dale Steyn (5) by trapping him leg before although replays suggested that the ball hit the bat first. Ishant and Mishra took one wicket apiece.

Earlier, Petersen, who made his way into the side after becoming the highest run scorer in the history of South Africa's four-day domestic competition last season with 1376 runs in his kitty, made it memorable day with a century in his first Test.

The right-handed opener, who replaced injured wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, survived a couple of close LBW appeals, especially one from Mishra, when he was on 47.

With Amla giving him fine support at the other end, Petersen grew in confidence.



Amla also made hay under a hazy sun as he carried on from his unbeaten 253 from in the first Test to notch up one more Test century.

Amla played a perfect ally to the rookie Petersen as the duo made Indian bowlers sweat before the turnaround after tea happened with South Africa losing seven wickets in 26 overs adding just 38 runs to the total.

Batsman South Africa(266/9 in 81 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR G Smith(c) b Z Khan 4 12 1 0 33.33 A Petersen c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 100 164 16 0 60.98 H Amla c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 114 166 14 1 68.67 J Kallis c V Laxman & b H Singh 10 26 1 0 38.46 AB De Villiers(wk) runout (Z Khan) 12 37 2 0 32.43 A Prince lbw H Singh 1 8 0 0 12.5 J Duminy lbw H Singh 0 1 0 0 0 D Steyn lbw A Mishra 5 37 0 0 13.51 P Harris c M Dhoni & b I Sharma 1 4 0 0 25 W Parnell Not out 2 21 0 0 9.52 M Morkel Not out 3 19 0 0 15.79 Extras b - 1, lb - 4, w - 0, nb - 9, Total - 14

Total:(266 for 9 in 81 overs) 266 Run Rate: 3.28

Fall Of Wickets 1/9 (Graeme Smith, 2.6 ov.), 2/218 (Alviro Petersen, 52.4 ov.), 3/229 (Hashim Amla, 56.4 ov.), 4/251 (Jacques Kallis, 65.1 ov.), 5/253 (Ashwell Prince, 67.1 ov.), 6/253 (Jean-Paul Duminy, 67.2 ov.), 7/254 (AB de Villiers, 68.3 ov.), 8/255 (Paul Harris, 70.3 ov.), 9/261 (Dale Steyn, 76.1 ov.)

Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Zaheer Khan 21 5 77 3 0 0 3.67 Ishant Sharma 17 3 56 1 6 0 3.29 Amit Mishra 20 3 68 1 3 0 3.4 Harbhajan Singh 23 2 60 3 0 0 2.61

Umpires: Stephen Davis (Aus) & Ian Gould (Eng)

Third Umpire: S K Tarapore (Ind)

Match Referee: Andrew Pycroft (Zim)