Virender Sehwag rattled South Africa with a vicious assault on the new ball, then ran Gautam Gambhir out, and chastised himself into becoming circumspect.
Morne Morkel indulged in some reverse-rattling from the other end and took out M Vijay. In the next over, JP Duminy, at first slip because of the finger injury to Graeme Smith, dropped Sehwag to leave the game in balance after four sessions of play.
Not that he cares about records, but Sehwag had the fastest Test fifty - 43 off 21 before that - and a few more for the taking before the run-out, but followed up with three back-to-back defensive shots off the middle of the bat. Only 24 runs came in 8.4 overs after Gambhir's dismissal. Before that, though, in a spell of 9.1 overs, he threatened to run away with the game.
Somehow the ball didn't come out right for Dale Steyn, the seam was wobbled, and there was no swing for him. And when there is no swing, his pace is Steyn's biggest enemy. The faster they came the faster they went off the bat. Nor did he get the bounce of Morkel, which meant that when Steyn went for the ribs Sehwag could easily flick it past midwicket.
The storm started with that gentle little flick and then came three boundaries in three balls in the third over: placed over point, whipped to square leg, and then slashed past point. Morkel, who had sort of troubled him with the first two balls, got the treatment in his third over. Three boundaries through the off side, one off a 152.6kmph delivery, and Sehwag was 29 off 15. Wayne Parnell replaced Morkel immediately, and immediately he was carved for a four and a six, taking Sehwag into the forties.
The next ball Sehwag faced he off-drove for four, and then came the turning point. An inside edge on a big shot, past square leg, an early call for two, and then he saw he had to run around the bowler to complete the second, and left Gambhir midway down the pitch. It was time for drinks and Sehwag threw away his protective gear in disgust before setting down.
Time then for Morkel to come back. The first ball he bowled in his second spell - the first reading 3-0-28-0 - was a bouncer that chased a swaying-away Vijay and got him flush in the helmet. The next ball smartly thrown up, at a gentler pace, but Vijay didn't take the bait. But the bouncer barrage continued. Unlike Ishant Sharma yesterday, who bowled just the bouncers, Morkel slipped in the fuller delivery again. Vijay had been forced back, wasn't close it it when playing the shot, and was gobbled up one-handed by AB de Villiers.
Morkel was persistent, big-hearted, and accurate in the second burst. Sehwag almost shut shop, scoring three runs in nine deliveries while being made to sway out of accurate bouncers. Then came an even better delivery that was short of a length just outside off and squared Sehwag up. It took the edge, but Smith and Morkel watched in agony as Duminy's horror Test continued.
Earlier Nos 10 and 11, Parnell and Morkel, added 30 valuable runs in four overs to take South Africa to close to 300. Their 35-run partnership for the last wicket was the second-best association of the innings.
