Safs pinned down by spin

South Africa had the worst possible start to their tour of India when they came close to defeat against the Board President8217;s XI today ...

South Africa had the worst possible start to their tour of India when they came close to defeat against the Board President8217;s XI today and also had key player Jacques Kallis on the doubtful list for the First Test.

Having a conceded first innings lead of 135, the visitors chose to experiment with their batting order but the decision backfired and they plunged to 150 for eight, only 15 runs ahead and 17 overs left in the day.

And the good news for India was that 10 of the 13 South African wickets that were to fall in the match were picked up by spinners. Mumbai offie Ramesh Powar got 3-50 while legspinner Sairaj Bahutule grabbed 2-68 for a match haul of 7-133.

The visitors reshuffled their batting lineup so that those who didn8217;t bat in the first innings got some time at the crease. But the batsmen failed to cope with the low turning track and found themselves fighting to save the match.

There was little hint of trouble when Jacques Rudolph and Zander de Bruyn added 62 runs for the opening stand. Then Powar picked two wickets off successive balls when he had de Bruyn 35 caught at silly point by Y Venugopal Rao before Shaun Pollock was caught behind the very next ball.

The left-handed Rudolph cracked three fours and a six for his 31 before he failed to get back to the crease in time and was run out by wicketkeeper M S Dhoni.

Powar then struck the third blow when he took a return catch to dismiss Boeta Dippenaar 23.

nbsp;	Kallis in Test doubt

		nbsp;	8226; JAIPUR: Jacques Kallis is a doubt for the First Test against India in Kanpur after suffering a side strain. Kallis 29 bowled three overs in the match and batted at number 10, making 12 not out. 8216;8216;It8217;s too early to say if he will be able to play or not. We8217;ll have a review on Friday and then decide8217;8217;, Gerald de Kock, media manager of the South Africa team, said. 8212; Reuters Story continues below this ad	nbsp;

It forced Kallis to come in at No. 10 and join his captain Graeme Smith. The two negotiated 12 overs before the match was called off with five of the mandatory overs remaining.

Earlier, resuming at 320 for five, the BP XI ended their innings an hour into the morning session, immediately after the dismissal of centurion Dinesh Mongia at 361 for six.

BRIEF SCORES

South Africans: 226 for 5 decl 038; 172 for 8 Z de Bruyn 35, J Rudolph 31; R Powar 3/50 vs Board President8217;s XI: 361 for 6 decl D Mongia 148, H Badani 74 n.o, M S Dhoni 39