Cape Town, Jan 5:Jacques Kallis played yet another magnificent innings to put South Africa in a position of control on Day 4 of the final Test of the three-match series against India. Kallis, who brought up his 40th Test century in the process, helped his team recover from a precarious 64/4 to post a daunting total of 341 in their second innings at the close of play.

South Africahad gone in to Tea with Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher already having put on a vital 82-run partnership, taking off from a score of 130/6. They brought up the 100-run partnership shortly after the onset of the final session. With the regular Indian bowlers unable to break the partnership between the two, MS Dhoni then gave the ball to Sachin Tendulkar who trapped Boucher (55) LBW with a delivery that kept really low.

Dale Steyn made his way to the wicket with the score at 233/7. The fast bowler batted with the same aggression that one had seen in Harbhajan Singh on Day 3. His 32 runs came in just 48 balls and Kallis and he were able to put on 54 runs for the eighth wicket.

But even as Steyn was caught at backward short-leg to give Harbhajan Singh his fifth wicket of the innings, Kallis stood firm. The burly South African all-rounder, battling an injury he developed in the first innings, strengthened the hosts’ position with his resolute batting. He brought up his century, with Morne Morkel at the other end, off 228 balls and also became the first South African batsman to score two centuries in the same Test match at home.

By the time Harbhajan Singh picked up the last two wickets, the hosts had reached a total of 341. India either need to score 340 to pull off a historic series-win or bat out the entire three session of the final day’s play tomorrow to save the Test and level the series. Kallis, who has now aggregated 498 runs in the series, remained not out at 109.

Earlier, South Africa’s batsmen would have liked to start the day’s proceedings with the intention of securing the team’s position. Harbhajan Singh, though, had different ideas. He first got rid of Alviro Petersen in just the second over of the day. Petersen, who couldn’t add to his overnight score of 22, was trapped LBW in a dismissal that was reminiscent of Paul Harris’ wicket on Day 3. Both batsmen were trapped playing from within the crease to deliveries that turned sharply after pitching.

Hashim Amla (2), trying to employ the sweep shot to negate Harbhajan’s turn, only managed to drag the ball onto his stumps. With the score at 64/4, the hosts were in a desperate situation.

Jacques Kallis, like in the first innings, looked in complete control. He employed the reverse sweep to great effect and even used his feet to come down the track in an attempt to disrupt Harbhajan’s line and length. AB de Villiers, gaining confidence from Kallis, did the same. Slowly stringing together a 34-run partnership, the two appeared to have weathered Harbhajan’s early onslaught.

Zaheer Khan, meanwhile, was creating problems at the other end by getting the ball to swing. And it was his nagging line that fetched India its next wicket. de Villiers (13), in an attempt to get his bat out of the way of a Zaheer delivery that came in after pitching, only managed to get an inside edge with the ball crashing into his stumps. The hosts went into lunch with the score at 121/5.

The post-Lunch session didn’t begin too well for South Africa as Ashwell Prince (22) was caught by S Sreesanth at point off an Ishant Sharma delivery. At that stage the hosts were threatening to collapse for a total under 150 with the score reading 130/6.

But the arrival of Mark Boucher, who had only scored 17 runs in the entire series up to that point, turned the tide for South Africa. Batting together with the invaluable Kallis, the duo kept the Indian bowlers at bay and began the process of rebuilding for the hosts.

Brief Score (At end of Day 4):South Africa 1st innings 362 in 112.5 overs (Jacques Kallis 161, S Sreesanth 5/99) and 2nd innings 341 in 102 overs (Jacques Kallis 109*, Harbhajan Singh 7/120); India 1st innings 364 in 117.1 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 146, Dale Steyn 5/75)

At Tea:South Africa2nd innings 212/6 in 72 overs (Jacques Kallis 67*, Mark Boucher 46*)

At Lunch: South Africa2nd innings 121/5 in 44 overs (Jacques Kallis 33*, Ashwell Prince 15*)

After Day 3: South Africa2nd innings 52/2 in 16 overs (Alviro Petersen 22*,Hashim Amla 0*

After Day 2: India 1st innings 142/2 in 50 overs (Gautam Gambhir 65*, Sachin Tendulkar 49*)

After Day 1: South Africa 1st innings 232/4 in 74 overs (Jacques Kallis 81*, Ashwell Prince 28*).