De Villiers leads South Africa's fight for draw
AB de Villiers dug in for an unbeaten 43 off 296 balls as a determined South Africa pressed for a draw in the fourth and final Test against India on Monday.
At tea on the last day, Dane Vilas was supporting de Villiers with a 45-ball 13 and the visitors were 136-5. They scored just 42 runs from 31 overs in the second session after losing the wickets of Faf du Plessis (10) and JP Duminy (0).
The world number one side, who have already conceded the series 2-0, must bat out the final session to salvage a face-saving draw.
De Villiers, who holds the record for the fastest half-century and century in one-day cricket, anchored one end and showed remarkable resolve on a slow track that offered occasional bounce.
The batsman appeared undeterred despite taking three painful blows on his hands against paceman Umesh Yadav.
India, who made 334 in their first innings, set the Proteas a massive target of 481 after declaring their second innings on 267-5. The visitors were dismissed for 121 in their first innings.
Ravindra Jadeja trapped du Plessis leg before wicket in the post-lunch session but not before he had played out 97 balls.
Jadeja's spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin then removed J.P. Duminy lbw for a duck to reduce the Proteas to 112-5.
Captain Hashim Amla and de Villiers had resumed the day with the same dogged resolution that they showed on Sunday.
Their ultra-defensive batting clearly frustrated Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who even brought himself on to bowl one over.
But it was Jadeja who gave his team the key breakthrough with the new ball.
The left-arm spinner made the ball drift into the right-handed Amla. He tried to defend once again but the ball sneaked past to hit the top of his off-stump.
Amla's nearly five-hour stay at the wicket yielded just 25 runs off 244 balls, the slowest in Tests by a batsman who has played 200 balls or more.
The 27-run stand that Amla shared with de Villiers off 253 balls was the lowest among all Test partnerships involving 200 or more balls.
Jadeja impressed the most with the ball, giving away just 26 runs from 46 overs -- 17 of them consecutive maidens. - AFP
(File photo: Gallo Images)