Sachin Tendulkar (146) and Dale Steyn (five for 75) lit up the third day here at Newlands, each negating the other so the third Test remained even.

Steyn's incisions saw India crumble to 247 for six. But Tendulkar, who had added 176 with Gautam Gambhir (93), resurrected the innings, raising 76 with Harbhajan Singh (40). Batting with determination and intelligence, unbothered by the number of times he was beaten by Steyn, Morne Morkel, and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Tendulkar got India to within 21 runs of South Africa's 362 before he was bowled by Morkel.

Early wickets

India eventually secured a two-run lead, but South Africa erased it, opening up a 50-run lead of its own. Harbhajan found Graeme Smith and night-watchman Paul Harris lbw late in the day, setting up a fascinating fourth day. If it's anything like the third, it'll be remarkable —and a lot of fun.

The first fifty minutes on Tuesday morning, under the clearest of skies, established the cadence for the day: tense, shifting, vivid cricket, the visual spectacle as rich as the battle itself, the warp of swing, the thrill of bounce as rewarding as what they were striving to achieve.

It helped that the protagonists were Tendulkar and Steyn, men whose expressions of skill stretch the extent of imagination. Tendulkar withstood Steyn for five of the first ten overs of the day; a lesser man — or one with poorer fortune — would have had no chance. Steyn seemed to have Tendulkar caught behind second ball. But there were doubts, in real-time, about the edge and the catch. Snicko registered a sound spike when ball passed bat; replays confirmed that Mark Boucher had got his gloves underneath it. Steyn barely appealed.

Incredible

After that curious incident, Steyn beat Tendulkar with ghostly shape and sharp seam-movement, taking the ball away from the right-hander. For Steyn to get a 50-over-old ball to behave thus was incredible. Each time Tendulkar went to the spot he thought the ball had deviated from and flattened it with the bottom of his bat.

In between playing and missing, Tendulkar blocked, using his footwork and his judgment to line the ball up. He tried standing outside his crease to force Steyn to alter his length. A pushed cover-drive followed — but so did an inadvertent boundary, to third-man, when he couldn't decide in time whether to play or leave.

While all this was going on, Gambhir was staging a battle of his own, against Morkel. Gambhir left several on length, some others on line, and it wasn't until the last part of Morkel's spell that his concentration broke. But the sucker ball, wide and inviting, couldn't buy the edge.

It was Paul Harris who ended the partnership. Both Tendulkar and Gambhir played the left-arm spinner with greater attacking intent on Tuesday. Harris, for his part, got the odd ball to grip, disturb the top surface, spin and bounce.

One such delivery followed Gambhir, brushing the glove even as the batsman withdrew his hands. Boucher couldn't take the difficult chance. The next ball was wider, fuller, flatter. It didn't turn. Gambhir, perhaps because of the previous ball, was compelled to play. Boucher completed a more straightforward catch.

Harris was also involved in the next wicket, V.V.S. Laxman's. He risked the wellbeing of his fingers, sticking them out in an attempt to catch a fierce hit from Tendulkar. Laxman, who had left his crease, stared in disbelief as the stumps were broken.

Steyn took over, his spell after lunch with the second new ball as fine a performance of sustained, high-quality swing bowling as you'll ever see. Nearly every delivery deserved a wicket. Only two fulfilled their promise.

Running in beautifully balanced, never looking distressed despite the dry, draining heat, Steyn cranked out out-swingers that arced from leg to off, twisting the batsmen helplessly around them.

The pace wasn't express, just sharp enough to do the job.

Cheteshwar Pujara received one such unplayable ball; M.S. Dhoni drove loosely at one that started wider. Harbhajan Singh saw his off-stump nicked by another banana-swinger, but inexplicably, the bail wasn't unseated.

Harbhajan realised his best bet was to attack. Tendulkar joined in, as Morkel, for no reason other than his not being Steyn, was targeted.

A polished Tendulkar straight-drive caught the breath.

Tsotsobe — who bowled without luck, beating Tendulkar's bat with ones that straightened from left-arm around — was attacked too, Harbhajan biffing him for six.

Zaheer Khan swung for the fences as well, slicing and slapping Steyn for two sixes, as India pulled marginally ahead.

Scoreboard:

South Africa — 1st innings: 362.

India — 1st innings: G. Gambhir c Boucher b Harris 93 (222b, 13x4), V. Sehwag c Smith b Steyn 13 (20b, 3x4), R. Dravid (run out) 5 (16b), S. Tendulkar b Morkel 146 (314b, 17x4, 2x6), V.V.S. Laxman (run out) 15 (19b, 3x4), C. Pujara lbw b Steyn 2 (14b), M.S. Dhoni c Prince b Steyn 0 (3b), Harbhajan c sub (Duminy) b Steyn 40 (67b, 3x4, 2x6), Zaheer c Prince b Morkel 23 (22b, 1x4, 2x6), Ishant c Boucher b Steyn 1 (2b), Sreesanth (not out) 4 (5b, 1x4); Extras (lb-20 , nb-1, w-1): 22. Total (in 117.1 overs): 364.

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Sehwag), 2-28 (Dravid), 3-204 (Gambhir), 4-235 (Laxman), 5-237 (Pujara), 6-247 (Dhoni), 7-323 (Harbhajan), 8-341 (Tendulkar), 9-350 (Ishant).

South Africa bowling: Steyn 31-11-75-5, Morkel 29.1-7-106-2, Tsotsobe 26-5-82-0, Harris 29-8-72-1, Petersen 2-0-9-0.

South Africa — 2nd innings: G. Smith lbw b Harbhajan 29 (47b, 3x4), A. Petersen (batting) 22 (38b, 1x4), P. Harris lbw b Harbhajan 0 (8b), H. Amla (batting) 0 (4b); Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (for two wkts. in 16 overs): 52.

Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Smith), 2-52 (Harris).

India bowling: Zaheer 5-0-25-0, Sreesanth 5-1-20-0, Ishant 3-0-3-0, Harbhajan 3-0-4-2.