India struggling at 166/4; trailing by 100 runs at tea

Kanpur, Apr 12(UNI) Struggling to find their feet on a difficult wicket, India were 166 for four, still trailing South Africa by 100 runs at tea on the second day of the third Test at the Green Park stadium here today.

Saurabh Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh were unbeaten on 26 and 21 runs respectively.

In the post lunch session India had scored 77 runs losing two quick wickets of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Both wickets were taken by Morne Morkel.

Morkel was the most successful bowler, claiming 3 of the four wickets that fell, while one went in favour of Dale Steyn.

Dravid was first to go when a Morkel delivery rose sharply, hitting his right wrist. The catch was taken by Devilliers at gully.

Dravid was in pain after taking the hit and was rushed to the pavilion. He made valuable 29 runs in 106 balls with four boundaries.

The third wicket partnership between Dravid and Laxman yielded 78 runs.

Next to go was Laxman who was bowled by Morkel after he completing his 33rd half century and fifth against South Africa.

Laxman's 50 came in 103 balls and with seven boundaries.

The score was 123 at the time.

However the fifth wicket partnership between Ganguly and Yuvraj added 42 runs till tea.

Tension ran high when Steyn had a verbal dual with Yuvraj after the latter hit two fours in an over. Timely intervention by Proteas skipper Graeme Smith and the umpires helped to resolve the matter.

Smith also tried every trick to frustrate the Indian batsmen and rotated his bowlers frequenly. He even used the services of part time bowler Hashim Amla but did not get the desired results.

The Green Park track has started to show its colour with the ball coming low and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher had problems while gathering the ball several times.

Yesterday, on the first day of the match, South Africa were bowled out for 265 runs in 86.4 overs with Harbhajan and Ishant Sharma taking three wickets each for the hosts.

South Africa were leading by 0-1 in the three Test series. While the visitors won the second test at Ahmedabad by an innings, the first encounter at Chennai produced a tame draw.

UNI MB AB VC1530