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Fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth had three wickets each in South Africa's second innings as top-ranked India took 7-114 on day four to bowl out the home team for 215 an hour after lunch.
Khan finished with 3-57, Sreesanth 3-45 and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had 2-70 to lead India to just its second Test match win in South Africa. Ashwell Prince top-scored with 39 not out for the home team.
India has lost all four of its previous series in the country. The teams will now contest a series-deciding third match in Cape Town, beginning on Jan. 2.
The touring team collected four wickets in the first session.
Zaheer Khan took two wickets and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh one each in the morning as South Africa struggled to 182-7 at lunch, still needing 121 to win. India's bowlers struck at regular intervals on a fast, bouncy Durban pitch for only its second victory in 14 matches in South Africa.
Sreesanth produced a superb fast, bouncing delivery that Jacques Kallis gloved to Virender Sehwag at gully on 17 in the eighth over of the day for India's crucial first breakthrough on Wednesday.
AB de Villiers for 33 and Mark Boucher for 1 were then both out lbw in the space of three overs, but replays suggested both decisions were wrong as the deliveries were going to miss the stumps.
De Villiers was hit on the front pad playing forward to offspinner Harbhajan and was dismissed by umpire Asad Rauf. The ball would probably have bounced over the stumps.
Boucher fell to Khan soon after in a second controversial decision, this time from Steve Davis at the other end. The ball, angled across Boucher, struck the wicketkeeper-batsman outside off off-stump and would likely have missed the stumps by some distance.
Khan snapped up his second wicket when Dale Steyn edged to Cheteshwar Pujara in the slips. Steyn hit two fours, out of only four boundaries for South Africa in the first session, before Khan worked him out for 10.
Paul Harris was bowled by Khan in the second over after lunch before a 33-run, ninth-wicket partnership between Prince and Morne Morkel temporarily held up India's charge.
Morkel was caught off a no-ball with South Africa 207-8, before he finally went for 20 by edging to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Ishant Sharma's only wicket of the innings.
The left-handed Prince hit three fours in his 108-ball resistance before Lonwabo Tsotsobe was brilliantly run out for a duck by Pujara at short leg to seal India's victory and set up the series-decider at Newlands.
Teams
South Africa -
Graeme Smith (capt), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de
Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Dale
Steyn, Paul Harris, Morne Morkel.
India - Murali Vijay, Virender
Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Cheteshwar
Pujara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt, wk), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan,
Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
Scoreboard
India, first innings: 205
South Africa, first innings: 131
India, second innings: 228
South Africa, second innings (target 303; overnight 111-3)
G. Smith c Dhoni b Sreesanth 37
A. Petersen c Pujara b Harbhajan 26
H. Amla c Dhoni b Sreesanth 16
J. Kallis c Sehwag b Sreesanth 17
A. de Villiers lbw b Harbhajan 33
A. Prince not out 39
M. Boucher lbw b Khan 1
D. Steyn c Pujara b Khan 10
P. Harris b Khan 7
M. Morkel c Dhoni b Sharma 20
L. Tsotsobe run out (Pujara) 0
Extras (lb1, nb8) 9
Total (72.3 overs) 215
Fall
of wickets: 1-63 (Smith), 2-82 (Petersen), 3-82 (Amla), 4-123 (Kallis),
5-136 (De Villiers), 6-143 (Boucher), 7-155 (Steyn), 8-182 (Harris)
Bowling: Khan 17-3-57-3, Sharma 11.3-0-36-1 (nb6), Sreesanth 14-2-45-3 (nb2), Harbhajan 29-5-70-2, Tendulkar 1-0-6-0
Toss: South Africa
Result: India won by 87 runs
Series: 1-1
Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS), Asad Rauf (PAK)
TV umpire: Johan Cloete (RSA)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
Remaining match:
January 2-6, Cape Town
