South Africa were saved by rain on Day 4, but face the threat of 98 overs with 7 wickets in hand to save the series.

At stake is the ICC world number 1 ranking!

Form batsman Hashim Amla is at the crease, but he’ll need an ally in Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers, none of whom are in great form. Prince and Duminy have struggled massively in the last 2 series, but South Africa’s premier batsman Jacques Kallis backs them to produce under pressure.

“Hashim has been in great form so obviously he needs to keep that going and I know that he is hungry to do that. The biggest lesson of all is when you are in good form not to give it away. He is mentally a very strong player and he has excellent powers of concentration. He knows his game plan very well and he has executed it brilliantly. There are some valuable lessons there for all players around the world” said Kallis.

“It is also a great time for JP and Ashwell to turn it around. What better time to do it than on an important day like this? They have done it on occasions like this before and they can turn it around. Tomorrow is a day for heroes” continued Kallis.

Resuming day 4 at 6/0, South Africa lost 3 critical wickets, Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen and Jacques Kallis. If it wasn’t for the rain wiping out most of day4, the Proteas would have been in a big pickle. They now only need to bat for a maximum of 98 overs to save their situation.

“We feel we can bat out tomorrow, just take it a ball at a time and be positive. The wicket is still very good for batting. There is a little bit of turn but not as much as you normally come across on day five on the sub-continent. There is not much there for the seamers either so certainly as far as batting conditions are concerned it is a good wicket to play on.”

“There is a little bit more bounce for Harbhajan than there was at Nagpur. It is probably slightly quicker but there is not a lot of turn. We have played spinners well in the past and there is no reason why we can’t do it again tomorrow” said a confident Kallis.

They may be aided by Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan carrying an injury concern. Khan left the field and appears to have a thigh injury that could restrict his effectiveness.

Indian Camp

India meanwhile were frustrated by the rain, and will be seeking the maximum number of overs to push for victory.

“It was handy getting Kallis out before the bad light. They’ve got some good players all the way through. Amit (Mishra) bowled really well today. So did Harbhajan (Singh). With the two of them bowling really well, and with Ishant (Sharma) and Zaheer (Khan) adding in as well, we are in a good position. It obviously depends on how many overs are available to us tomorrow” said Indian coach Gary Kirsten.

“It’s up to us to make sure we bowl well. There are lots of players in the South African team, as there are in the Indian side, who will punish you if you give them too many chances or let them off the hook” said Kirsten.

There is plenty to play for on the last day of the series. Who wants to stand up and be a hero?