New Delhi: Chasing a mammoth 481, South African batsmen employed an ultra-defensive approach reaching 40/1 in 39 overs at tea on day 4 after Ajinkya Rahane achieved the rare distinction of scoring hundreds in both innings of a Test match in the fourth and final Test, here today.
Courtesy Rahane's unbeaten 100, India declared their second innings at 267 for five.
In their bid to bat out for a draw, South African skipper Hashim Amla decided to defend anything and everything that came his way and added only 35 runs in 34 overs with opener Temba Bavuma (30).
Such was their defensive mindset that they scored at a rate of less than a run per over for the better part.
Amla took 46 balls to open his account and then reached 6 off 113 balls at the break. In fact when he completed facing 100 balls, he had scored only 6 runs.
Amla's 46 balls to get off the mark is the third most balls consumed after Stuart Broad (62 balls vs NZ in 2013) and Grant Flower (51 balls vs NZ in 2000).
Bavuma also showed resilience facing 104 balls which included three streaky boundaries and a six off Ravichandran Ashwin.
This is the first time that two South African batsmen in this series have played 100 balls each in a single innings.
This was after opener Dean Elgar (4) was removed by Ashwin, who was introduced in the fourth over. The Proteas still need 476 runs for an improbable win.
Earlier, following his classy 127, Rahane once again produced a top quality innings that contained eight boundaries and three sixes, facing 206 balls.
With his sixth hundred in the longest format, Rahane also joined the elite list of Indian cricketers, who have reached the three-figure mark in both innings of a Test match.
Late Vijay Hazare (once), Sunil Gavaskar (thrice), Rahul Dravid (twice) and Virat Kohli (once) are the other Indian batsmen to have achieved the coveted milestone.
