Proteas Post 265 On A Dirt Track

McKenzie a mere second away from losing his wicket.

India overcame the absence of captain Anil Kumble to take the upper hand in the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur in their bid to level the series.

The tourists slumped from 152-1 to 265 all out with Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh taking three wickets apiece as Graeme Smith and Hasim Amla's hard work on an appalling wicket counted for little.

Kumble pulled out on the morning of the match with a groin injury, handing a Test return to 19-year-old leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for his second cap - two years on from his debut.

And the youngster rewarded the selectors' faith by claiming a wicket with his fifth ball, turning the ball away from the advancing Neil McKenzie (36) leaving stand-in skipper MS Dhoni the simplest of stumpings.

It was the hosts' only breakthrough in the morning session as captain Smith moved stylishly to his half-century while Amla joined him to take the tourists on to 152-1 after lunch.

But after the pair added 91 for the second wicket, part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh induced a bat-pad chance from Smith which Wasim Jaffer snapped up at short leg.

It had been a finely paced knock from Smith, who weighed in with eight fours and two sixes, but his dismissal prompted a collapse.

Amla (51) and then Jacques Kallis fell in quick succession - the former becoming the first wicket to fall to pace as the recalled Ishant Sharma got one to swing back and clip the top of the stumps.

Kallis was unfortunate to see a ball from Harbhajan Singh spin back onto the stumps having made just one as South Africa slipped to 175-4 at tea.

Ashwell Prince and AB De Villiers tried to regroup, adding 38 for the fifth wicket as De Villiers quickened the tempo, smashing Harbhajan and Sreesanth for four in successive overs, but got ahead of himself as the return of Chawla did the trick.

The leg-spinner dropped one slightly short of a length in his first over back in the attack and De Villiers (25) was through it too soon, catching a top edge that sailed high in the air before Ganguly took a steepling catch.

The turning ball will worry the tourists, who opted to go into the match with just one specialist spinner in Paul Harris, and the slow bowlers proved their worth in a productive final session.

Another part-timer, Virender Sehwag, caught Prince only half-forward and got the lbw decision from around the wicket, while Harbhajan's persistence paid off when Morne Morkel's aggression counted against him as he edged to Rahul Dravid at slip.

The tall left-hander looked to go on the offensive at all times and the attitude brought him three boundaries in his 17 run-a-ball innings, but Harbhajan's extra turn and bounce proved his undoing.

Mark Boucher and Paul Harris again looked to rebuild the innings but once more India clinched the breakthrough just when it looked as though they were losing their grip.

Dhoni refused to take the second new ball, instead tossing the old one to Sharma, and the ploy worked a treat as the lanky paceman jagged one back through Boucher's defence and cleaned him up.

Boucher's 29 came off 59 balls and he added 23 with Harris, who must have looked on in desperation as he watched new batsman Dale Steyn reverse sweep Harbhajan straight into the hands of substitute fielder Mohammad Kaif at slip.

And Sharma wrapped up the innings in what proved to be the final over of the day, removing Harris's leg stump with the batsman going for a wild slog.

It meant South Africa had lost six wickets for 90 runs in the final session as India's fightback was completed.