South Africa were 25 for one at tea in reply to India's first innings of 414.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly made half-centuries but India's tailenders collapsed against the accurate bowling of Shaun Pollock and debutant left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who both finished with four wickets. Pollock took four for 75 and Harris four for 129.

With the series locked at 1-1, India looked on course to bat South Africa out of the game as Tendulkar made a carefully-crafted 64 and India reached 337 with four wickets down. But Tendulkar was caught at slip off Harris shortly before lunch.

Ganguly and the hard-hitting Virender Sehwag put on 58 in 49 minutes for the sixth wicket before Sehwag's dismissal sparked a collapse. Sehwag had raced to 40 off 50 balls with six fours and a six when he swept against Harris and Makhaya Ntini took a diving catch at deep backward square leg.

Pollock's persistence paid off when he trapped Anil Kumble leg before for nought and Harris picked up his fourth wicket when Mark Boucher pulled off a smart stumping as Zaheer Khan stretched forward and lost his balance.

Ganguly went for his shots and hit a six over long-on off Harris before Pollock picked up the last two wickets. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was caught at gully before Ganguly lofted a catch to mid-off. Ganguly made 66 off 75 balls with nine fours and a six.

Tendulkar started in watchful mode when he resumed on 28 not out. It took him more than an hour to hit his first boundary of the day but in an ominous sign for the South Africans he struck four sweetly-timed fours within 10 deliveries on either side of reaching his second half-century in successive matches.

But then Harris made a ball spin out of the rough outside leg stump and Tendulkar edged it to Jacques Kallis at slip. Tendulkar batted for 187 minutes, faced 130 balls and hit 11 fours.

South Africa, seeking to make good use of the second new ball, were only able to claim one early wicket, when Dale Steyn bowled VVS Laxman for 13 with a fast, straight delivery which uprooted the off stump. The breakthrough came in the eighth over of the morning.

Ganguly ducked into a Steyn bouncer and was hit on the helmet before he had scored, requiring treatment on the field, and was dropped on 22 when Shaun Pollock could not hold a diving chance at mid-off, halfway to the boundary, off Harris.

Captain Graeme Smith hit the first ball of the South African innings for six when he top-edged a pull off Zaheer Khan over fine leg, following up with a solidly-struck pull for four off the last ball of the same over.

Sreesanth claimed his 17th wicket of the series when AB de Villiers was caught behind by Dinesh Karthik off an inside edge.