Ajinkya Rahane scored his fifth Test century to lay the foundation for India's decent first innings score of 334 before South Africa reached 38/1 at tea on the second day of the fourth and final cricket Test here today.
Comeback-man Umesh Yadav removed Dean Elgar (17) , who was caught by Wriddhiman Saha trying to steer a fuller delivery.
Temba Bavuma (20 batting) and skipper Hashim Amla (1 batting) were at the crease for South Africa during tea break.
The highlight of the second day certainly was Rahane's 127 off 215 balls as he achieved the distinction of being the first player from either side to have reached a three-figure mark in this low-scoring series so far.
The stylish right-hander's knock was studded with 11 fours and as many as five sixes. He added 98 runs off 193 balls for the eighth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin (56), who completed his sixth half-century in the longest format.
Incidentally, this was also the highest stand for any wicket among either teams in the series. The Rahane-Ashwin duo surpassed the previous best of 86 between Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Among the many firsts, it was Rahane's first hundred on home soil. This was also the first time that one team passed a total of 300 runs in this series with the previous highest being 215 at Nagpur.
This was also the first time that only one wicket fell in a single session which yielded 95 runs. Another first was Rahane getting a hundred against South Africa and he has now scored five centuries against five different oppositions: Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
What made the knock even more special is the fact that this is the ground where he made an inauspicious Test debut failing (7 & 1) in both innings.
Rahane's moment of glory came with a beautiful straight drive off Kyle Abbott as the entire Indian dressing room gave him a standing ovation. The 100 came off 180 balls which included 10 well-timed boundaries and two sixes.
(REOPENS DEL 30)
However, the count of maximums doubled once he reached his ton. He hit off-spinner Dean Elgar for successive sixes. The first was an angled delivery which Rahane danced down the track to hit wide of long on. The next also met with identical fate but it was over long-off.
The only blemish was when on 101, Rahane tried playing a forward defensive stroke and the edge was dropped by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas much to the frustration of the left-arm spinner Dean Elgar.
Rahane's dismissal was a soft one when Imran Tahir bowled a fullish delivery which the batsman hit straight at AB de Villiers standing at covers.
It obviously helped that he found an able ally in Ashwin, who was prepared to stay at the wicket and grind it out. At the same time, he did not mind punishing the loose deliveries that came his way. He hit some elegant boundaries -- six in all apart from the over boundary off Tahir that brought about his half-century.
In the post-lunch session Ashwin, did not last long as a mistimed pull-shot brought about his downfall. He faced 140 balls for his 56.
