Centurion, Dec 19: Sachin Tendulkar reached a significant landmark in the history of the game by posting his 50th Test century in the third session of the fourth day’s play of the Centurion Test. Tendulkar’s innings, a remarkable display of his powers of concentration, and inclement weather have now given India an outside chance of saving this Test match.

Tendulkar began his innings of 80 after Lunch on a more positive note. After having helped himself to a couple of boundaries, the Master then hit a big six off Paul Harris over long-off to move into the nineties. A few overs later, with the SuperSport Park crowd delirious in anticipation of Sachin’s landmark, the Indian legend brought up his 50th Test century by driving Dale Steyn to the cover boundary for a single. The landmark is in no danger of being breached in the foreseeable future by a contemporary player.

But shortly after that historic moment, South Africa struck back by getting rid of MS Dhoni. The Indian captain, aggressive in his innings of 90 off 106 balls, edged a short delivery from Dale Steyn to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, with the score at 449. And when Harbhajan Singh fell soon after to the left-arm spin of Paul Harris without opening his account, it appeared that India would fold shortly.

But bad light leading to heavy rain and some dogged resistance by Sachin Tendulkar (107*), who shielded S Sreesanth (3*) from much of the strike, saved India when play was called off.

Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 190/2, Ishant Sharma played his role of the night watchman competently as he defied the South African attack for close to an hour. But then, with the score at 214, Dale Steyn had Sharma (23) caught at short square-leg and India lost their first wicket of the day.

Rahul Dravid, who has been India’s saviour in such situations in the past, tried his best to secure one end. But Morne Morkel, bowling a nagging line and length, had the Indian caught behind off wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, off a delivery that moved just that tiny bit to get a faint edge of Dravid’s bat. Dravid made 43 and India were 242/4 at that stage. VVS Laxman (8) was the next to go as he edged a Lonwabo Tsotsobe delivery to Ashwell Prince standing at gully. And when Suresh Raina edged a Kallis delivery to Paul Harris at first slip, at the stroke of Lunch, it appeared that India would collapse without putting up too much of a resistance.

Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni then put up a good fight in the post-Lunch session to deny the Proteas an easy victory. While Tendulkar continued to play in the same assured manner that had characterised his batting before Lunch, Dhoni unveiled a kind of batting that he usually employs in the shorter formats of the game. He batted at nearly a run-a-ball for most of his innings and was quick to pull or cut anything that was pitched short to him. When the South African bowlers changed tack and pitched the ball further up, he stepped out and crashed them for some gorgeous drives on the off side.

While both batsmen brought up their half-centuries in the course of the second session, it was Dhoni’s 83-ball knock of 72 that was the highlight of the 117-run partnership between the two.

Brief Score (At the end of Day 4): India 1st innings 136 in 38.4 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 36, Morne Morkel 5/20) and India 2nd innings 454/8 in 122.2 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 107*, S Sreesanth 3*, MS Dhoni 90, Dale Steyn 3/103); South Africa 1st innings 620/4 decl in 130.1 overs (Jacques Kallis 201*, Hashim Amla 140, Ishant Sharma 2/120)

At Tea: India 2nd innings 394/6 in 106 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 80*, MS Dhoni 72*)

At Lunch: India 2nd innings 277/6 in 77.5 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 38*)

After Day 3: India 2nd innings 190/2 in 44.1 overs (Rahul Dravid 28*, Ishant Sharma 7*)

After Day 2: South Africa 1st innings 366/2 2 in 87 overs (Hashim Amla 116*, Jacques Kallis 102*)

After Day 1: India 1st nnings 136/9 in 38.1 overs (MS Dhoni 33*, Jaidev Unadkat 1*).