Scorecard

India inched closer to a historic victory as they reduced South Africa, chasing a target of 402, to 69 for three at tea on the third day of the first Test in Johannesburg on Sunday.

S Sreesanth again did the damage, grabbing two wickets in the post-lunch session, following his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings that blew South Africa away for 84 and left them with a huge first innings deficit.

Earlier, VVS Laxman scored an elegant fifty to stretch India's lead to 401 as they finished at 236 in the second innings.

A 70-run stand between Laxman (73) and Zaheer Khan (37) shattered the spirit of the South African bowlers, who started the day on a high with two wickets for two runs. Zaheer showed rare patience for a tail-ender, playing out almost the entire first session for 37 runs in 80 balls.

Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini picked three wickets each but could not stop India from running away with a commanding lead.

The hosts will now have to rewrite history if they have to come back and win the Test; the highest fourth innings score at the Wanderers is 351 for five by England while chasing 479 in 1995-96.

Morning session

India, resuming on 146 for five, lost Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Anil Kumble for the addition for just two runs to the overnight score.

Having completed a tally of 400 Test wickets, Pollock did the honours early in the morning by scalping Dhoni for 18. Kumble was out driving away from his body to Andre Nel and was caught by Ashwell Prince at point to give South Africa a window of hope early on.

But Laxman and Zaheer all but shut doors on the home team with a steady partnership.

The Hyderabadi curbed his shots early in the day and guided his partner through the tough opening hour. Having made a remarkable comeback to the Indian team, Zaheer made his presence felt with the bat as well, leaving alone the teasing deliveries and got his eye in much to the frustration of the South African bowlers.

Laxman, following his 28 in the first innings, posted the highest individual score in the match so far with a well-complied 73 off 154 balls. With the South Africans bowling a yard too short, he scored 29 runs through the arc between third man and point, including four boundaries.

Graeme Smith's desperation was evident as he brought himself into the attack. But he was quickly taken apart by Zaheer, who slammed him for two fours and two sixes as India accelerated in the last 30 minutes.

Makhaya Ntini though cut short the sojourn when he had Laxman and Zaheer within the space of two deliveries.

Returning for his second spell of the morning, Ntini bowlerd further up to draw the batsmen to nick the ball.

Though India only lasted another 10 balls, S Sreesanth and Nel carried on their little battle from Saturday to provide some entertainment.

Nel came out and bounced Sreesanth and then called on the batsman to take on the challenge. Sreesanth replied by charging down the track and hitting the ball straight over the bowlers' head for a six and then celebrated by twirling his bat while glaring at the bowler.

The young and restless duo of Sreesanth and VRV Singh added 16 runs for the last wicket before the latter was run-out while going for an improbable second.

Post-Lunch session

South Africa came out after lunch looking to make amends for the first innings disaster. Captain Graeme Smith, who is a nervous starter, had huge responsibility to lead his team to safety. But the opener threw away his wicket after a cautious start. He reached for a wide delivery from Sreesanth and Sehwag took a good diving catch at point.

Smith shared a 22-run stand with Hashim Amla, who was next to go for 17. Though the batsmen fared better than they had in the first essay and looked more comfortable at the crease, it didn't help South Africa's cause, leaving the lower and middle order to face a daunting task.

Jacques Kallis tried to smooth the lines in typically unruffled fashion. He combined well with the left-handed Ashwell Prince to halt India's march in the session.

Zaheer Khan bowled another outstanding opening spell, but had a couple of close decisions ruled against him. He finished the session with figures of 19 for 1 in eight overs.

Sreesanth was again the pick of the bowlers, maintaining a consistent, probing line. The delivery that he got Amla out with, landed on the perfect length and forced the batsman to play and edge the ball to the wicketkeeper.

With India making early inroads, Kallis and Prince were left stalling the Indian assault before they could begin looking for runs. Prince, batting to a packed off-side field, squeezed out five runs in 36 balls and Kallis was unbeaten on 24 from 59 balls when tea was called.

India were unable to maintain the intensity after Sreesanth and Zaheer were off the attack. Dravid also introduced Sourav Ganguly into the attack, but the former skipper was taken for 11 runs from the over, including two fours by Kallis.