Sreesanth (5-40) turns the match on its head, rocking the cocky South Africans, bundling them out for 84 on a day of astonishing cricket, with useful contributions from Ganguly, Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Kumble and VRV Singh
Sreesanth was wrecker in chief as he picked up his maiden five-wicket haul of 5-40, well supported by Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble who claimed two wickets each.But that was not all. The Indians then consolidated their position with some resilient batting,
displayed for the first time on the tour, to reach 146 for five by stumps on thesecond day — with the help of a pleasing 42 not out by VVS Laxman, India nowleads by 311 runs, with fiver wickets remaining.
Virender Sehwag managed 33 which, on a day that saw 20 wickets fall, was equivalent of a strong start.Sourav Ganguly (25) and VVS Laxman (42 batting) built on it with a 58-run stand to extend India's overall lead to 311 runs.Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 17 was with Laxman at stumps. In between, South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock achieved a personal milestone of 400 Test wickets with the scalp of visiting skipper Rahul Dravid (1).
AB de Villiers (6) was shocked by a delivery from Zaheer Khan which rose abruptly and a defensive jab ended in the hands of Virender Sehwag in the gully region. Mark Boucher (5) became Sreesanth's fourth victim when he inside edged a delivery on to his leg-stump and South Africa had five of their top order back in the hut.Shaun Pollock (5) made it a first fiver for Sreesanth as he missed a delivery heading on to his stumps.Sreesanth ended with 5 for 40.
Andre Nel (21) hit some lusty blows to score his highest ever in Tests but the introduction of Anil Kumble into attack ended allpretensions of a fightback. Kumble claimed an obdurate Ashwell Prince (24) who edged a catch behind the stumps and off the very next delivery, Makhaya Ntini found his stumps rattled.Nel then hit one in the deep on the off-side to close the lid on South Africa's first innings, a performance which left the weekend spectators completely shocked.
VRV Singh backed away but struck some lusty blows to upset the composure of South African bowlers. He carved out some unexpected fours in the outfield.