By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI: India spinner Ravindra Jadeja struck twice either side of the lunch break but South Africa continued their dogged resistance to be 136-5 at tea on the final day of the fourth and final test at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium on Monday.
Resuming on 72-2 on a hazy morning, South Africa, looking to bat out the final three sessions than chase down 481 runs for an improbable victory, employed the same ultra-defensive strategy that marked their batting on Sunday.
AB de Villiers was batting on 43 from 296 balls, fuelling South Africa's hopes of an extraordinary draw after losing the series to India.
It was one of the slowest innings by a batsman who holds the record for fastest 50, 100 and 150 in one-day cricket, made more remarkable by the fact that he was batting through pain after being hit on the thumb by an Umesh Yadav delivery.
Dane Vilas was giving him company on 13 with South Africa still 345 behind their target.
Determined to eke out a draw, captain Hashim Amla and de Villiers continued frustrating the Indian bowlers with resolute stonewalling.
The number of bowlers Virat Kohli employed rose to eight, including the India skipper himself, as he grew desperate to try and separate Amla and de Villiers.
Kohli surrounded the batsmen with up to six close-in fielders for his spinners but success eluded the hosts until the 13th over of the day.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja earned the breakthrough in the fifth over after the hosts had taken the new ball, spinning one past Amla's tentative bat to hit the top of the off-stump before embarking on a celebratory run.
Amla departed after nearly five hours of dour defending, scoring 25 painstaking runs from 244 balls in what was the slowest ever test innings of 200 or more balls.
The 27 runs he added with de Villiers in 253 balls was also the slowest test partnership of 175 balls or more.
New man in Faf du Plessis displayed the same obduracy with the bat and took 53 balls -- seven more than skipper Amla -- to get off the mark.
Jadeja, who sent down 17 consecutive maiden overs in the second innings, struck again after the tea break, trapping du Plessis leg before for 10 off 97 balls, ending the batsman's two-hour vigil.
Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the scoreless JP Duminy but de Villiers and Vilas joined hands to thwart the Indians to ensure the test spills into its final session.
Reuters
