THE Proteas struck with three late wickets to put the second Test against India almost back on to an even keel at Eden Gardens on Monday.

With Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both scoring their second centuries of the series and sharing a double century partnership for the third wicket in the process the match looked to be going away from the Proteas as their first innings total of 296 was passed with eight wickets still in hand.

But the Proteas managed to find a second wind in the form of the late introduction of JP Duminy, surely the best stand breaker in the game at the moment. His second ball accounted for Sehwag and then Tendulkar (caught at slip by Jacques Kallis off Paul Harris) and S.Badrinath (Steyn’s first wicket of the match) followed in quick succession.

It left the home side on 342/5 at the close for an overall lead of 46 runs. What will encourage the Proteas is the fact that the Indian lead has been restricted to a manageable total at this stage and that the second new ball is just four overs away.

If they can restrict India to a lead of 100 runs they will still be very much in the contest.

The pitch is still pretty flat and full of runs and the opportunity will be there for the Proteas to bat big in their second innings and put India under pressure batting last in the match.

Coach Corrie van Zyt admitted afterwards that he had been slightly disappointed in the execution of the bowling plans and felt that too many deliveries had been too full.

The seamers struggled to get the perfect length. Morne Morkel, for instance had one excellent spell of 1/7 in five overs but was very expensive in his first and third spells.

All the bowler, in fact, took some stick as India started at a run rate of more than seven to the over and were above five for most of the day’s play.

Sehwag (165 off 174 balls) was his normal carefree self in scoring his 19th century at this level. He does take outrageous risks at times but his execution has stood the test of time and he is a very difficult opponent to contain when he is in full spate.

Tendulkar went to his 47th century and his fourth in successive Test matches. He is undoubtedly the most technically pure batsman to hit the game since Barry Richards and he remains a joy to watch even if he has batted in a relatively constrained style in this series.

His 50th Test match century can only be just around the corner.