March 28, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19, 1429

CHENNAI, March 27: India made a confident reply to South Africa’s record 540 in the first cricket Test here, reaching 82 without loss by stumps on the second day on Thursday.

Virender Sehwag smashed a typically aggressive 52 and Wasim Jaffer chipped in with 25 as the Indian openers emerged unscathed from the 21 overs they faced before the close.

Both batsmen played freely, each striking a six over the slips off pace bowler Makhaya Ntini to the delight of 14,000 home fans at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

India will resume on Friday with their first target being to reach the 341 that will save them the embarrassment of being asked to follow-on in the first match of the three-Test series.

Hashim Amla hit 159 to lift South Africa to their highest total in India, surpassing the 510-9 declared at Kanpur on their previous tour in 2004.

The Proteas, who began the day on 304-4, nearly doubled their score despite a slow over rate of 13 an hour by the Indian bowlers to check the flow of runs on the unresponsive wicket.

The 24-year-old Amla hit 20 fours in his fourth Test century, but fell short of his career-best 176 not out against New Zealand in Johannesburg last year.

“These were the hottest conditions I have ever batted in,” said Amla. “It was a difficult challenge so I do rate this effort up there with my best.“The wicket was too good to bat on, but it is always special to score a century in the subcontinent.

“There is a lot of hard work ahead for the bowlers and we are hoping the wicket will do a bit on the third and fourth day.”

Sehwag said India’s aim was to put up a big total over the next two days.

“It will not be easy to bat on the final day, so if we can get a lead of about 100 we can put the South Africans under pressure,” he said.

“If the ball is to be hit, I will hit it, but I want to start afresh tomorrow and build a big score.

“It was hard work for our bowlers but Hashim was a surprise. We did not expect him to play the way he did.”

Amla’s seven-hour vigil on the slow wicket ended in a run-out midway through the afternoon session but there was no respite for the tired Indian attack as Mark Boucher went on to hit 70.

Boucher, who survived a loud shout for leg-before against Shanthakumaran Sreesanth when he was on 10, put on 99 for the sixth wicket with Amla.

Tailender Morne Morkel joined in the fun, stroking seven boundaries in his 35 during a

seventh-wicket stand of 54

with Boucher.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up the last three tailenders to earn himself a five-wicket haul, but at a cost of 164 runs from 44.5 overs.

Spin partner Anil Kumble, the Indian captain, took 2-106 while left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh’s 23 wicketless overs cost 111 runs.

Sreesanth was the fourth bowler to concede more than 100 runs, finishing with 1-104 on the slow pitch that offered no assistance to the bowlers.

Amla, who was on 85 overnight, reached his hundred half-an-hour after the start of the day’s play with the last of his three cover-driven boundaries in one over from seamer Sreesanth.

The tourists, who were 510-6 at one stage, lost their last four wickets for 30 runs.

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 304-4):

G.C. Smith c Laxman b Kumble 73

N.D. McKenzie c Dravid b Harbhajan 94

H.M. Amla run out 159

J.H. Kallis c Jaffer b Harbhajan 13

A.G. Prince c and b Kumble 23

A.B. de Villiers c Dhoni b Sreesanth 44

M.V. Boucher c Dravid b Sehwag 70

M. Morkel c and b Harbhajan 35

P.L. Harris c Dhoni b Harbhajan 5

D.W. Steyn c R.P. Singh b Harbhajan 15

M. Ntini not out 1

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-5, W-1, NB-1) 8

TOTAL (all out, 152.5 overs) 540

FALL OF WKTS: 1-132, 2-196, 3-244, 4-291, 5-357, 6-456, 7-510, 8-520, 9-529.

BOWLING: R.P. Singh 23-1-111-0; Sreesanth 26-5-104-1 (1nb, 1w); Kumble 45-11-106-2; Harbhajan Singh 44.5-4-164-5; Sehwag 11-1-37-1; Ganguly 3-0-12-0.

INDIA (1st Innings):

Wasim Jaffer not out 25

V. Sehwag not out 52

EXTRAS (LB-5) 5

TOTAL (for no wkt, 21 overs) 82

TO BAT: R. Dravid, S.R. Tendulkar, S.C. Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, M.S. Dhoni, A. Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, S. Sreesanth, R.P. Singh.

BOWLING (to-date): Steyn 6-1-27-0; Ntini 7-1-26-0; Morkel 5-1-15-0; Harris 3-1-9-0.—AFP