NEW DELHI: India spinner Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Hashim Amla to end South Africa's dogged third-wicket resistance but the visitors kept blocking everything to be 94-3 at lunch on the final day of the fourth and final test at Ferozeshah Kotla stadium on Monday.
Resuming on 72-2 on a hazy morning, South Africa, looking to bat out the final three sessions than chase down 481 runs for an improbable victory, employed the same ultra-defensive strategy that marked their batting on Sunday.
The number of bowlers India skipper Virat Kohli employed rose to eight, including bringing himself on, as he grew desperate to try and separate Amla and AB de Villiers.
Kohli surrounded the batsmen with up to six close-in fielders for his spinners but success eluded the hosts until the 13th over of the day. Left-arm spinner Jadeja finally earned the breakthrough in the fifth over after the hosts had taken the new ball, spinning one past Amla's tentative bat to hit the top of the off-stump before embarking on a celebratory run.
De Villiers was batting on 26 from 203 balls, one of the slowest innings by a batsman who holds the record for fastest 50, 100 and 150 in one-day cricket. He was hit on the thumb by an Umesh Yadav delivery but batted through pain after getting medical attention.
Faf du Plessis was batting on two at the other end, having taken 53 balls -- seven more than skipper Amla -- to get off the mark and blocking everything hurled at him.
Amla departed after nearly five hours of resolute defending, scoring 25 painstaking runs from 244 balls in what was the slowest ever test innings of 200 or more balls.
The 27 runs he added with de Villiers in 253 balls was also the slowest test partnership of 175 balls or more.
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