Rain, bad light help S Africa to stay afloat in Kolkata Test - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Only two-and-a-half hours of play was possible on day four of the second cricket Test between India and South Africa here on Wednesday. At the draw of stumps, South Africa were 115 for the loss of three wickets, still needing another 232 runs to make India bat again. From the Indian side, the hero of the day was leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who claimed two of the three wickets to fall. The third one was captured by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. At the close, Hashim Amla, who has scored 367 runs in two innings before this, and Ashwell Prince were at the crease, battling to ensure a draw for their side to secure the number one Test batting spot from India. Rain and bad light prevented India from making inroads into the South African batting line-up. India would have been much more comfortably placed had Murali Vijay held on to a sharp chance from Amla at backward short leg. The South African batters returning to the pavilion were skipper Graeme Smith, fellow opener Alviro Petersen and batting mainstay Jacques Kallis. Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh, all tested the visitors with their skill and guile in the air and off the pitch, but the returns were not forthcoming. Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was disappointing. The score card at the end of day four is as follows: South Africa 296 and 115 for 3 (Amla 49*, Mishra 2-15) trail India 643 for 6 dec by 232 runs.