A blue-collar Prince

For someone derided by many as a quota selection when he made his debut nearly five years ago, Ashwell Prince has come a long way on a road that has been anything but straight and smooth. Having made 49 in his debut innings and then set up a Kinsgmead victory over Australia with an assured 48, he then endured a torrid patch against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

It took him more than two years to get the compass bearing sorted and make his way back from the wilderness. His very first innings back, a superb unbeaten 139 against a Zimbabwe team that still had Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut, revealed much about his new approach, as do the numbers that he has stacked up since.

Before he walked to the crease in Durban on Tuesday morning, Prince had 1190 runs at 49.58 since his return, with four centuries and four other scores over 50. The 119 he made last year in a Sydney Test that South Africa lost in stunning fashion on the final day was undoubtedly the highlight, and he missed a fifth century by a whisker a week ago, when an ill-timed charge at Anil Kumble saw him fall three runs short.

As in that Wanderers innings, Prince had his moments of fortune. There was a confident leg-before shout from Zaheer Khan when he had made just 16, and he had progressed to 41 when Sachin Tendulkar grassed a chance in the slips off VRV Singh. The good batsmen, though, don't dwell on such things, and Prince carried on, adding an even 100 with Mark Boucher before a late wobble saw the Indians leave the field the happier side.

Prince played some gorgeous drives in the final session, but was initially able to grind his way through because he had men at the other end who took on the scoring mantle. Herschelle Gibbs would have batted at No.6 had Jacques Kallis not been afflicted with severe back pain, and after twin failures at the Wanderers it was clear that the selectors had put him on notice.

Yet, until he perished to a reckless stroke, he batted as though he'd come into the game on the back of several hundreds. On a bouncy pitch where the odd ball swung away late, he sparred and missed a few times, but such moments of uncertainty were obscured by the sheer brilliance of some of his shot-making. For over an hour after lunch, India appeared pretty clueless as Gibbs found his range and started picking the gaps with effortless ease.

Boucher too batted beautifully, rotating the strike cleverly and stroking some wonderful shots through the infield as South Africa threatened to gallop into the distance in the final session. It took an exceptional delivery from Sreesanth to scotch those plans, and the manner in which India struck back after that said much about how the confidence levels have been lifted by the epic win at the Wanderers.

Zaheer was once again tremendous with the new ball, and South Africa's top order once again lasted only about as long as a can of Coke. Sreesanth wasn't at his best in the opening spell, but both he and VRV Singh bowled with tremendous pace and control under the blazing hot afternoon sun. After the breeze that was the first innings at the Wanderers, this was Test cricket as it should be, tough and evenly balanced, with every wicket having to be earned through buckets of sweat.

Credit too to Kumble, who wheeled away for 22 overs in conditions that offered next to no assistance. Prince handled him adeptly at times, but Kumble probed away relentlessly and got his reward through googlies that utterly bemused both Andrew Hall and Andre Nel. As Dravid said later, it was reward for unstinting effort, on a day when nothing came easy. Not even for a Prince.