India made a confident reply to South Africa's record 540 in the first cricket Test reaching 82 without loss by stumps on the second day yesterday.
Virender Sehwag smashed a typically aggressive 52 and Wasim Jaffer chipped in with 25 as the Indian openers emerged unscathed from the 21 overs they faced before the close.
Both batsmen played freely, each striking a six over the slips off pace bowler Makhaya Ntini to the delight of 14,000 home fans in Chennai.
India will resume today with their first target being to reach the 341 that will save them the embarrassment of a follow-on in the first match of the three-Test series.
Hashim Amla hit 159 to lift South Africa to their highest total in India, surpassing the 510-9 declared at Kanpur on their previous tour in 2004. The Proteas, who began the day on 304-4, nearly doubled their score despite a slow over rate of 13 an hour by the Indian bowlers.
The 24-year-old Amla hit 20 fours in his fourth Test century, but fell short of his career-best 176 not out against New Zealand in Johannesburg last year.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up the last three wickets to earn himself a five-wicket haul, but at a cost of 164 runs from 44.5 overs.
Spin partner Anil Kumble, the Indian captain, took 2-106 while left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh's 23 wicketless overs cost 111 runs.
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