De Villiers (left) and Amla (right) refused to give their wickets away

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

South Africa captain Hashim Amla and batsman AB de Villiers put together an unbeaten 23-run partnership off 29.2 overs to keep their hopes of salvaging the fourth Test alive.

Starting off the day on 190/4, India lost skipper Virat Kohli fairly early on for 88, but batsman Ajinkya Rahane proceeded to score his second century of the match, ending on 100 off 206 balls, which included eight boundaries and three sixes, before Kohli decided to declare with his side on 267/5. This set the Proteas a mammoth target of 481 to win.

Morne Morkel was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Kyle Abbott and Imran Tahir chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Chasing 481 to win, South Africa got off to a poor start as Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma were both dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin for four and 34 respectively.

Following Bavuma’s dismissal, Amla and de Villiers were intent on staying at the crease and did so by amassing the slowest partnership with a minimum of 175 balls faced before stumps was called.

Amla finished on 23 off 207 balls, which included three boundaries, while de Villiers remained undefeated on 11 off 91 deliveries, which included one boundary.

Ashwin was the only bowler to take any wickets.

South Africa ended day four on 72/2 and will continue batting tomorrow at 09:30 local time or 04:00 GMT.