Hashim Amla struck his maiden double century in Tests and his highest first class score with a no-fuss, no-frills unbeaten knock of 253. This was even as Jacques Kallis missed yet another double century, falling on 173, clearly looking scratchy from the start of the day. He probably was itching to get the double ton, and was out of sorts today. But, that didn't bother Amla, who gave SA a platform from where they could dictate terms in the next three days. Indian openers raced to 25 for no loss in the four overs they had to contend with, after SA declared on 558/6.Starting the day on 291/2, the pair for Amla and Kallis added 55 runs to their partnership, taking the stand well past 300. Kallis was looking nervous to get his maiden double, and took more than a dozen balls to just get off the mark for the day. He finally got out bat pad to Vijay off Harbhajan, after having survived a clear LBW decision in the previous over off leggie Mishra. De Villiers came and looked to dominate the spinners from the offset, and nearly got himself out dancing down the track. Vijay at short leg threw the ball back off de Villiers, but missed the stumps. De Villiers then went on to square a quick half-century with clever use of his feet, at times too predictable, getting himself into some trouble too. He kept the scoreboard ticking, and eventually got out trying to hit part timer Sehwag over his head. Sehwag was delighted to see the edge flying to the point fielder. Duminy didn't last long and once again got out to an off spinner, Harbhajan this time, LBW from around the wicket. Boucher got a few boundaries even as he struggled against the leggie.
Meanwhile at the other hand, Amla was as good as a rock. Barring a sitter dropped by Vijay at short leg when on 149, there were no blemishes in this innings for him. He just played the ball to its merit, taking singles every now and then. Boundaries were a rarity and he wasn't fussed by that though. One could argue that he was a touch slow given the batting friendly wicket. But, he held up one end for the other batters to play their shots.
The Indian bowlers toiled hard throughout the day. One couldn't blame them for the lack of effort, but would blame their luck. Especially Amit Mishra, who seemed to be the unluckiest of all people in the whole of Nagpur. He bowled 53 overs without a single wicket to his name, even though balls went past the outside edge agonizingly close countless times. Harbhajan bowled better than the first day and got the wickets of Kallis and Duminy as reward. He too was a touch unlucky not to pick up more. The batting beauty of a pitch certainly didn't give the bowlers much of a chance. The pacers didn't have much to shout about, with Ishant Sharma going off the boil completely. Zaheer Khan toiled hard and got the wicket of Boucher late in the day for his persistence.
The most surprising thing was the declaration from SA. At no stage did the batters look in a hurry for a declaration. They never forced the pace trying to take risks, as is the case usually. In the end, Graeme Smith's declaration came out of the blues, with just four overs left to be bowled. They might have decided to keep the new ball fresh to use it on a fresher wicket on start of day 3. But, one can't help but feel that they certainly could have played a few more shots, especially with the Indian bowlers and fielder tired, to take the score to the 600 mark. The lack of reverse swing for Indian bowlers would mean that the Indian batters can make merry too if they can see of the new ball. There would be high hopes from the best opening duo in the world, as they face off the best new ball pairing. If India has to have any chance of winning this game from here on in, Virender Sehwag will have to equal Donald Bradman's record of three triple hundreds in Tests.
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