Sehwag and Gambhir hit back in style

India 185 for 0 (Sehwag 85*, Gambhir 85*) trail South Africa 510 for 9 dec (Hall 163, de Bruyn 83, Kumble 6-131) by 325 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Over the first two days, South Africa had ground out 459 runs from 182 overs on a pitch which was reckoned to be too slow to allow uninhibited strokeplay. Today, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir put the conditions in perspective - though the quality of the bowling attack had a large hand to play - as India scored at almost four-and-a-half runs per over to finish the third day at Kanpur on 185 without loss, with both Sehwag and Gambhir on 85 apiece. Earlier, South Africa declared their first innings on 510 for 9.

For a crowd which had become used to stodgy defensive batsmanship over the first couple of days, today's play was a refreshing change - 236 were scored from 51.4 overs, and despite no play being possible in the morning session due to fog, the spectators got their money's worth.

Of the South African bowlers, only Shaun Pollock had played a Test in India before, but even he struggled to extract any seam movement from the track. He kept the runs down early on, but in the final session both batsmen comfortably drove through the line of the ball, confident that the ball wouldn't deviate. Makhaya Ntini was completely ineffective on a track which didn't suit his style of bowling at all, while Robin Peterson, the only specialist spinner in the side, barely managed any turn at all. It was as different from the Australian bowling line-up as you could expect, and the Indian openers cashed in.

Despite their singularly toothless attack, the South Africans did have a couple of chances to break through, but their fielders made a mess of those opportunities. When on 29, Sehwag charged down the track to Peterson and missed. Unfortunately for South Africa, so did Thami Tsolekile, their wicketkeeper, and the ball sped away for four byes. Earlier, Gambhir had been reprieved on 5, when Justin Ontong, substituting for Boeta Dippenaar, who was hit on the head by a ball during nets, failed to get his hands on a fierce cut shot.

Gambhir wasn't entirely convincing in the early part of his innings, playing and missing a few times and miscuing a couple of pull shots, but he slowly grew in confidence. He was helped by a few inviting leg-stump half-volleys by Andrew Hall just before tea, and after the break uncorked some flowing cover-drives off the seamers, and reached his maiden Test half-century by lofting Peterson over long-on for six. Throughout the innings, he comfortably outscored Sehwag, and though both ended on 85, Gambhir faced 27 fewer deliveries.

Sehwag, on the other hand, was extremely choosy with his strokeplay early on. Mindful of the lack of pace in the track, he often checked his drives, and when he did execute them, he was careful enough to hold back the moment of impact just a fraction to ensure that the ball didn't go airily. Once he gauged the pace of the track, though, the drives through the off side flowed effortlessly - orthodox ones against the seamers, and inside-out drives off Peterson. A cheeky reverse-sweep took him to his half-century, and by close of play, both him and Gambhir were in sight of their hundreds, and the follow-on target of 311 looked piddly.

Earlier, South Africa showed plenty of urgency in the 8.4 overs they batted. Pollock remained unbeaten on 44, but the impetus to the innings this afternoon came from Peterson, who slammed 34 from just 24 balls. Coming to the crease after Anil Kumble trapped Tsolekile in front for his sixth wicket (467 for 8), Peterson played bold lofted shots against all three spinners. He struck three fours and a six - a superb straight hit off Harbhajan Singh - but was bowled attempting another huge hit.

With the total looking imposing enough, Graeme Smith declared, but by close of play, India had already made significant inroads, and in double-quick time.