India loses the plot at Centurion

In the post lunch session on day three of the Centurion Test, Venkatesh Prasad bowled a grubber that bounced thrice before it got to Deep Dasgupta. Who, with gloves and feet all in the right position, then let it go through his legs and on to the helmet placed behind him.

The umpire signalled five extras. And Prasad responded with a half volley, next ball, that was promptly cover driven for four.

It was that kind of day.

Given the thunderstorm of late yesterday evening, and the overcast conditions prevailing when play began, given too the fact that India had bowled 80 overs yesterday, you thought stand-in captain Rahul Dravid would take the new ball first thing.

But no, with three seamers in the side and conditions just right, we got a double dose of spin in the form of Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar. For 12 overs, what's more. And the new ball was duly taken after the two not-out batsmen had settled back in and were motoring nicely.

Even so, Srinath with the new ball made one kick and seam away at an angle, for Klusener to push at and find Laxman at slip off the thick outer edge. The damage though had already been done -- when play began this morning, India had the option of attacking, taking a quick wicket or two and restricting the Protean lead. But by lunch, that lead had swelled to 127, with half the side still left in the hut.

After lunch, the fun continued. Kallis and Boucher, neither seeming in any particular hurry, kept stitching the runs together and the Indians facilitated them by serving up a buffet of hittable deliveries.

Kallis duly got his unofficial hundred, and then, as if to relieve the boredom, two wickets fell in two overs when Kumble bowled Kallis and Nehra, in the next over, went under a Boucher pull to clip the top of off stump.

Niky Boje and Shaun Pollock then looked to step on the gas a bit. Pollock was outstanding in that role -- the footwork was impeccable to pace and spin alike, and his assault on both Harbhajan and Kumble breathtaking in its ferocity. Harbhajan did manage to fire one past a charging Boje for Dasgupta to complete the stumping (445/8).

By tea time, thanks largely to Pollock's entertaining knock (57 not out off 52) , the lead had swelled to 254 (486/8).

Post tea, Pollock continued to party till the rains came down, interrupting play with South Africa 497/8 (Pollock 66 not out off 61).

The rain, mercifully, did not last long. Pollock and Ntini, in contrast, did -- and a ridiculous day reached its height when the Indians spread the field as though it was the 35th over of a one day match and bowled Srinath, to both batsmen, without even a slip in place. Worse was to follow when Prasad bowled -- with nine fielders spread around the boundary line and the batsman majestically alone, except for his partner, the bowler, and the wicket-keeper (incidentally, he still hit fours despite that cordon). The only way Pollock could have got out was through laughing too much.

Pollock got an unofficial 100 to go with the two official ones he has got, the 9th wicket partnership touched the 100-mark at the same time, and for the Indians, the embarassment continued. Pollock, incidentally, created a new South African record when he swung Harbhajan over deep midwicket for his seventh six -- the most, by any player from that country in a Test innings. The rains promptly came down again, and the players trooped off for yet another breather (566/8, a lead of 334) .

This time round, though, play was called off for the day. To the relief of the Indians who, otherwise, might well have found themselves facing a few quick overs on a pitch freshened up by the rain.

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