Needing still 259 to make South Africa bat again, India, the world leader in Tests, are staring at the strong prospect of an inning’s defeat in the Nagpur Test. The hosts ended the third day at 66/2 in their follow-on after a poor batting display in the first in which only three batsmen reached double figures.

With the likelihood of the game being finished on the fourth day, India will also have to gulp down the humiliation of first Test defeat at home in a long time. A loss in the first Test will make matters worse for Dhoni’s men who need to at least draw the series to retain their top rank. On the other hand, a win here and a possible clean sweep of the series would see the South Africans right back on top. And that’s what they have been clearly gunning for!

South Africa’s pace sensation Dale Steyn, with strong resemblances to Sir Richard Hadlee, cut through and widened the gashes on the Indian flesh, just like the former great used to do quite often. Even a blazing hundred from Indian opener Veerender Sehwag was not enough to negate the pace of Steyn whose 7/51 turned the match around for South Africa.

The Indian batting, already depleted in the absence of experienced Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Yuvraj Singh, struggled to find answers for steyn’s express pace as he kept making inroads into the batting line-up.

Sehwag, was the lone star for India whose gallant individual attempt proved not enough to take India to safety. Despite the team being jolted with three quick wickets in the first hour, Sehwag continued in his usual, fearless fashion providing some consolation to the Indian fans. He was out for a well-made 109 of 139 balls which contained 15 hits to the fence.