DURBAN: VVS Laxman made a polished 96 before India's bowlers grabbed three wickets to give their side the advantage on the third day of the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead Tuesday. When bad light stopped play, South Africa was 111-3, still 192 runs short of a victory target of 303. South African captain Graeme Smith made a belligerent 37 off 38 balls as he and Alviro Petersen put on 63 in even time for the first wicket. But Smith was out in the over before tea and two more wickets fell within four balls shortly after the interval to put India in a strong position to level the three-match series. First, though, it will have to get past Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, who were unbeaten on 12 and 17 respectively when the umpires called off play. Sreesanth took two wickets and Harbhajan Singh one to dent South African hopes of clinching the series following its win by an innings and 25 runs in the first Test at Centurion. Smith went on the attack against left-arm opening bowler Zaheer Khan, hitting two boundaries off the first over and taking 12 runs, including two more fours, off Zaheer's next over. After conceding another boundary to Smith, Zaheer was taken out of the attack after three overs which cost 24 runs. Sreesanth made the breakthrough when Smith top-edged an attempted pull, sending the ball high in the air to enable wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to run to square leg to hold an easy catch. Petersen was caught at short leg off Harbhajan for 26 and Amla followed for 16 when he flashed at a wide ball from Sreesanth and was caught behind. Laxman was mainly responsible for South Africa having to chase over 300, holding the innings together until he was last man out, caught behind off Dale Steyn as he tried to keep the strike. Laxman remained unruffled and shared stands of 48 for the sixth wicket with Dhoni (21) and 70 for the eighth wicket with Zaheer Khan (27). Sree in the dock Firebrand Indian fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was Tuesday accused of making personal remarks during an altercation with South African captain Graeme Smith. Sreesanth and Smith appeared to exchange words and Smith pointed his bat at the bowler shortly before he was dismissed by Sreesanth for 37. “Graeme doesn't normally react in those sort of situations. It must have been something personal,” said South African slow bowler Paul Harris. India's batsman VVS Laxman said he was not sure what happened. “But saying that, it is a series between two top teams and in a tussle like that it's bound to happen,” Laxman said. “It's not only Sreesanth saying something to Graeme Smith but their bowlers have come at us hard. Both teams want to win badly. The intensity at which the game is being played is high.” – Agence France
