Laxman, Dhoni Put India in Completely on Top

Kolkata: India declared at 643 for six in 1st innings with an overall lead of 347. Laxman and Dhoni remained unbeaten after scoring tons against South Africa in 2nd Test. South Africa were 6/0 in 2nd innings at stumps on day 2.

South Africa have a mountain to climb trailing by 341 runs with 2 whole days left in the game. Their batting order will be under tremendous pressure to perform, especially the likes of Smith, Prince and Duminy.

The pitch will provide some assistance to the spinners and it will be tough task for the South African batsmen against the Indian spinners, especially after what happened in the first Innings.

But, the last seven sessions have belonged to India. They came back well after two ordinary sessions and batted brilliantly to have the Proteas back against the wall. The visitors will be looking towards their captain Graeme Smith to fire.

Play will start 15-minutes eary on day 4 at 0330 GMT (9am local time) with 95 overs scheduled to be bowled.

Earlier, The openers set up a good platform, a bit of a stutter in the middle, then a gem of an innings from the master and his disciple and then, yet another stutter but captain courageous and stylish Laxman have ensured that South Africa have to bat out of their skins to snatch the No.1 Test tag for India.

The Proteas were ordinary in the field dropping some sitters. It is now upto their captain to lead from the front to save his team from an embarassment after a tremendous victory at Nagpur. As far as India are concerned, the light is diminishing and they would look to strike early and get the skipper tonight itself and try and finish the game tomorrow.

Brief scores
South Africa: 296 (Amla 114, Petersen 100, Zaheer 4-92) and 6 for 0
India: 643 for 6 dec (Sehwag 165, Laxman 143, Dhoni 132, Tendulkar 106)
Status: South Africa trail by 341-runs

Scores	Upcoming	Results
West Indies vs Bangladesh - 3rd T20I Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 2nd ODI South Africa vs Pakistan - 2nd ODI 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 21, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan - December 22, 12:00 GMT 3rd Test - Australia v India at Brisbane Match drawn 2nd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 27 runs

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