Scorecard

South Africa's debutant pacer Morne Morkel took three wickets to reduce India to 183 for eight at lunch on day three of the second Test in Durban on Thursday.

India, resuming on 103 for 3, lost the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar (63) and Sourav Ganguly (0) in the space of three deliveries to hand South Africa the initiative.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni threatened briefly with his quick innings of 34 from 39 deliveries, including seven boundaries, before he became Morkel's first Test victim.

V V S Laxman was unbeaten on 28 (122 balls, 2 boundaries), but was witness to the rather tame dismissals of Anil Kumble (0) and Zaheer Khan for 2.

India slipped to 183 for 8 at the lunch break in reply to South Africa's first innings total of 328.

Morkel produced impressive figures of 3 for 55 in 12.2 overs, while Makhaya Ntini took 3 for 41 in 15 overs.

Morning session:

Two wickets falling in the seventh over of the morning session of day three swung the tide South Africa's way; the continued fall of wickets through the extended morning session ensured that the home team went in to lunch feeling reasonably good about its prospects.

The home team will, in fact, feel justifiably aggrieved at the horrendous decision from umpire Asad Rauf, that kept India from losing a third wicket inside the span of four deliveries.

The most unfortunate part was the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, which triggered the slide. From the first ball he faced this morning, the batsman looked remarkably organized. The front foot was gliding right out; the ball was hitting the middle of the bat as if drawn with a magnet, and there was something of the ominous in the way he greeted Makhaya Ntini's first ball of the morning with an easy glide forward and a clean punch that rocketed the ball to the mid-off fence.

Tendulkar then went on to play the shot of the innings; in Ntini's second over, he picked the length early, swayed away just a fraction to manufacture room, and played a blistering square drive that hit the fence before anyone, including the sweeper, could blink.

Judged by the way Tendulkar scored in fours and Laxman through tip and run tactics, the plan seemed to be for the latter to anchor, and for Tendulkar to provide momentum to the scoring.

Fair enough, except that given the way he was batting, the number four didn't need to get cutesy to accomplish that goal. He had already blunted the edge of South Africa's aggression; Smith had as early as the fourth over reduced the slip cordon to just two, and the two South African pacemen had resorted to a stream of short deliveries to try and curtail scoring.

That is when Tendulkar got cute. The fourth ball of the 7th over of the morning was a Ntini bouncer, that hit outside off and jagged in a shade. Tendulkar swayed back, brought his bat up and attempted to uppercut to the vacant third man; the ball jagged in more than he thought it would, cramped him for room, found the top edge and lobbed up for Boucher to complete the take, much to the exuberant relief of Graeme Smith, who had dropped the batsman on 21, and stood in the slips while watching him add another 42, and threaten much more (63/115; 125/4; 64 run partnership for the fourth wicket).

The real problem with that dismissal -- apart from the obvious waste of a batsman who finally seemed in prime form -- was that it came just when the South Africans were metaphorically moving back onto their collective back foot.

The bowling was by the numbers; the early swing and seam provided by overcast conditions was easing off (Graeme Smith compounded it by inexplicably taking the ball from Pollock after the bowler had finished his overnight over, and giving it to Andre Nel); the batsmen looked increasingly assured, and a turnaround seemed on the cards.

Sourav Ganguly lasted two deliveries. The first, from Ntini, he defended. The second was, predictably, a scorching bouncer, angling across, hitting middle and climbing into the body.

The batsman hopped away, took his eyes off the ball, and fended at it in reflexive defense; the ball caught the handle of the bat and looped up to point for Gibbs to complete an easy take (0/2; 125/5). For the longest time imaginable, Ganguly stood there, blinking and giving every sign of a batsman who hadn't seen the ball.

The first ball Andre Nel bowled to Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a peach - bowled at furious pace, it hit length, bit, skidded in off the seam and was homing towards the middle of middle stump when the batsman's pad intervened.

The only one watching who thought that was not out was Asad Rauf; as bad a decision as any of the shockers we've seen in this Test thus far.

Ntini and Nel spent the rest of the first hour peppering both batsmen with bouncers; Laxman was hit on the forearm, Dhoni took one on the helmet, it all looked quite spectacular - but the South African bowlers missed a bet in not tempering that aggression with some sense.

Dhoni, in particular, was not tested around his off stump before he was set, and by the time drinks were wheeled out, the batsman was feeling his oats sufficiently to thump fours off both Ntini and Nel.

Nel had a few things to say to Dhoni on the stroke of drinks; immediately after the break, the batsman responded by blazing successive fours, through covers and back past the bowler.

Dhoni's batting has been true to type; to anything short, he looks uncomfortable, even if occasionally effective with his leaves. To the indeterminate length, the batsman looks equally indeterminate, playing with hard hands but managing only to knock the ball around into the cordon. Bowl length or better, though, and he comes into his own - the front foot slides out, the bat whips through the arc at blinding speed, and the ball disappears where he wills.

In his 39-ball innings, he was tested maybe three times in that corridor just around off, where given his style of play, he can neither defend nor hit. On two occasions he was beaten, with the ball flashing dangerously close to the edge. On the third, he gave up the ghost. Morkel landed one in the corridor and moved it away late; Dhoni drove at it with hands as hard as concrete, got the lower edge on the ball and de Villiers at second slip came low and forward to take his third great catch of the Test, to give the debutant his first Test wicket, due reward for a vastly improved spell this morning (34/39; India 179/6; 54 runs for the sixth wicket.)

Anil Kumble didn't last long; a wild swipe at a Morkel delivery outside off found the edge through to Boucher (0/6; 179/7).

Zaheer Khan walked out, and displayed his new-found stickiness yet again, looking impressively organized in defense. The short ball, though, proved his undoing; he swung one from Pollock to fine leg, but against Morkel's extra pace, misjudged the shot and put it up for a simple take by Hashim Amla at square leg (2/20; 183/8).

The wicket signaled lunch; with Laxman soldiering on with 28/123 to his name; and India trailing by 145 on the first innings.

It is an intriguing position. SA can obviously force a win by piling runs up quick, then trying to bowl India out cheap. A draw is the clearest option. And then, the outside one: consider the weather conditions, which are getting increasingly swing and seam friendly, and ponder on the possibility of the Indian seam attack hitting its lines against a batting order under extreme pressure.

It is about as intriguing as it gets - and it has set up a great afternoon session, after SA won its fourth straight session to dominate the Test.

PostScript: Umpire Mark Benson, who walked off the field complaining of chest palpitations about 10 minutes into the morning session, has been taken to hospital for a precautionary test. It is unknown at the time whether he will play any more part in this Test.