Jacques Kallis pulled South Africa out of the woods with a brave century on the opening day of the second Test against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
The 29-year-old batsman combined caution with aggression after the early loss of both openers to register his 17th Test century, and first against India, as South Africa ended the day on 227 for five.
Kallis and Jaques Rudolph (61) rallied the visitors from a hopeless position of 21 for 2 with a 109-run third-wicket partnership before India regained the initiative in the last session, thanks to Irfan Pathan, who claimed to wickets to finish the day with 3 for 61.
When bad light forced play to be called off with 6.3 overs left, Kallis was unbeaten on 103, with Zander de Bruyn on 15.
Morning session:
There was uncertainty about Graeme Smith's participation in the match after a car ran over his foot on Saturday, but the 23-year-old was cleared to play.
The visitors left out batsman Martin van Jaarsveld and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson. Amla, the first player of Asian origin in the South Africa side, made his debut and Justin Ontong came in for his second Test.
India made one change; paceman Irfan Pathan replaced left-arm spinner Murali Karthik.
The pitch is dry and cracked and will surely offer the spinners a lot of assistance as the match wears on.
After having seen Sourav Ganguly open the bowling in the last Test, it was a welcome sight watching Pathan charge in with the new ball. Pathan was India's main strike bowler before he picked up a side strain in the Chennai Test during the series against Australia and it was hard to fathom the thought process behind dropping him for the first Test in Kanpur.
Reward for his inclusion was almost instantaneous. Smith, opening the innings with Andrew Hall, took first strike and defended the first ball well. The second ball from Pathan was wide and swinging away; the left-hander, looking to smash it through the covers, went after it, but ended up with a thick edge that Dinesh Karthik gobbled up behind the stumps. (0 for 1)
Having lost the toss, Ganguly could not have hoped for a better start.
Zaheer was slammed for 11 in his first two overs as he struggled to find his line, but then got his act together in his third over. He consistently beat the bat outside the off-stump and got one to take the edge but it dropped short of Karthik. However, he did get his reward. The last ball, going straight past the batsman with the left-hander's natural angle, elicited a stroke from Hall. The feet stayed rooted and the resultant edge flew to Karthik, who made no mistake. (21 for 2)
The usefulness of having two regular seamers was vindicated straightaway.
Kumble was introduced into the attack in the 15th over and having seen the seamers get some movement, Ganguly put himself on from the other end.
The new batsmen, the two Jacques -- Kallis and Rudolph -- settled in quite quickly. Whatever early life the pitch had disappeared, but the Indians had done well to get two wickets early.
From the 21st over, it was spin from both ends with Kumble and Harbhajan Singh taking over the reins of the bowling.
Kumble has had a fair amount of success against Kallis in India, having dismissed him thrice in three Tests, but the right-hander held firm.
At lunch, after 28 overs, South Africa were reached 60 for 2 with Rudolph on 26 and Kallis on 25.
Post-lunch session:
After lunch, the South African batsmen looked to consolidate. They could not afford to lose any more wickets and Kallis's presence would be vital to their cause.
Ganguly tried different variations and effected bowling changes in quick succession, but the lunch break seemed to have settled the South Africans further.
For 109 runs nothing untoward happened at the wicket. The runs kept coming, albeit at a slow rate, and the Indians did not look bothered by the proceedings.
Rudolph was hesitant against the spinners, but his play against the pacemen was better. Kallis, at the other end, was rock-solid.
It was generally a dull period of play. Rudolph reached his first half-century on Indian soil and soon Kallis followed suit.
The duo added 109 runs for the third wicket before Zaheer got a wicket with the second ball of his second spell.
The ball pitched outside the off-stump and angled into the left-hander, who missed it completely and was clean bowled. Rudolph scored 61 off 162 balls, including seven boundaries. (130 for 3)
Debutant Amla joined Kallis at the wicket.
Amla presents an odd sight at the wicket; his hands and feet flapping all over the pitch as he prepares to play the ball, but at the point of contact, sanity prevails and everything fall into place.
Amla and Kallis played out the few overs before tea and at the break South Africa were 152 for 3, with Kallis on 58 and Amla on 12.
Post-tea session
There was nothing much to shout about in last session of the day. The South African batsmen showed no inclination to force the pace throughout the day and the last session followed the norm.
In the first Test at Kanpur, many experts complained about the attitude of the visitors; nothing seems to have changed since then. Batting in such a defensive manner makes the chances of a result highly unlikely.
Kallis, who has great powers of concentration, could play this game with ease. The question for South Africa is whether the remaining batsmen can stay at the wicket with him.
Amla (24 off 49 balls) looked quite comfortable at the wicket and for someone playing his first Test that is a compliment. But then another change in the bowling foxed him. Throughout the day Ganguly used his four bowlers well, changing them around with regularity and not letting the South Africans get used to the bowling.
Pathan was brought back into the attack and he got Amla's wicket with a beauty. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and clipped the top of the off stump. It was a crucial blow to the South African cause. The duo put on 46 runs for the fourth wicket. (176 for 4)
Pathan, who got the ball to reverse swing wickedly, struck another blow to remove new batsman Boeta Dippenaar (2) with a good length delivery that angled across the right-hander. The resultant edge went straight to the keeper. (182 for 5)
Things could have been worse for the visitors but umpire Simon Taufel turned down a huge caught behind appeal against Zander de Bruyn, who was then on 2, off Harbhajan. Replays later showed that ball had taken a clear edge on its way to Karthik.
De Bruyn survived and then gave Kallis good support in the middle.
Kallis soon reached his 17th Test hundred, off 207 balls. It was his first hundred against India and fifth by a South African at the Eden Gardens.
Play came to an abrupt end when the umpires offered the batsmen the light.
South Africa had reached 227 for 5 wickets after 83.3 overs, with Kallis unbeaten on 103 and De Bruyn on 15.
India will hope to make early inroads on the morning of day 2 through Pathan, who once again proved his value to the side, and Zaheer.