Durban: India bowled themselves into contention in the second cricket Test by dismissing the top six South African batsmen on the fourth day at Kingsmead here today.

After conceding an 88-run first innings lead, India put the skids under the hosts' batting, reducing them to 192 for six at lunch in their second innings.

However, all rounder Shaun Pollock combined with Andrew Hall to put on 49 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket partnership to take their overall lead to 280 runs.

At the break, Pollock was batting on 18 while Hall was on 20.

Young S Sreesanth brought about the shift in fortunes for the Indians, picking three wickets in the space of seven deliveries.

The topsy-turvy morning session was in tune with the way the match has progressed so far and there was no inkling of it after South Africa had resumed at 64 for no loss this morning.

The Indians began with a defensive mindset as Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan bowled way outside the off-stump with packed offside field in an attempt to keep the hosts down who were 152 runs in front to start with.

Openers AB de Villiers (47) and Graeme Smith (58) still managed to find their range early, hitting some attractive boundaries before the rot set in.

De Villiers was the first one to leave on 99 when he edged VRV Singh to VVS Laxman at second slip for 47 runs.