Chennai: Virender Sehwag led India's riposte with a feisty unbeaten fifty as the hosts refused to be buried under South Africa's run mountain and promised a runfeast in the first cricket Test here on Thursday.
After the visitors capitalised on the MA Chidambaram Stadium's lifeless track and India's listless attack to amass 540,Sehwag (52) and Jaffer (25) responded well to take India to 82 for no loss at stumps on the second day.
Sehwag's unbeaten 52 came off 61 balls and included six boundaries and a six.
Even though the hosts got off to a good start, they still trail by 458 runs and cannot afford to get carried away, especially when they need another 259 runs to escape the ignominy of a follow-on.
Not to be bogged down by South Africa's mammoth score, Sehwag and Jaffer began with a flurry with the Delhi opener deciding to set the tone and Makhaya Ntini bearing the brunt of his belligerence.
In Ntini's first over, Sehwag first drove him for four and followed it up with an upper cut that cleared the vacant third man boundary for a six.
Sehwag's daredevilry proved contagious as an otherwise sedate Jaffer repeated the trick in the sixth over with Ntini again at the receiving end. Both the openers will return on Friday to continue the good work and reduce the gap.
Earlier, resuming at 304 for four, South Africa maintained their upper hand in the first two sessions and almost every batsman contributed his mite to hoist their first innings total to a commanding 540 before being all out. The boundaries came thick and fast with both overnight batsmen Hashim Amla (159) and AB de Villiers (44) showing scant respect for India's ragged bowling attack. Realising the futility of pace, India skipper Anil Kumble began the day with a two-pronged spin attack but neither the leg-spinner nor his spin twin Harbhajan Singh could make a dent as both the batsmen looked rock solid. Amla chose S Sreesanth for special treatment and hit the Kerala speedster for three successive boundaries to breeze to his first century against India and there was no let up even after he achieved the milestone. At the other end, de Villiers too played his natural strokes much to the dismay of their jaded hosts. He, in fact, looked set for a half century before the right-hander threw it away by chasing Sreesanth's wide delivery as MS Dhoni took a smart catch behind the stumps. That marked the end of his 66-run stand with Amla. Mark Boucher (70) replaced de Villiers in the middle and ensured the run flow continued unabated. He milked the Indian attack with consummate ease, while Amla crossed the 150-mark at the other end. Virender Sehwag scalped Boucher, when his looping top edge had Rahul Dravid beneath it. But by then, Boucher had posted his highest score against India and took the team tally past the 500-mark. His 70 came off 146 balls and included nine boundaries.
Even Morne Morkel (35) had some fun with the bat before Harbhajan caught him off his own bowling and then scalped Paul Harris (5) and Dale Steyn (15) to finish with five for 164.
