South Africa conceded some psychological advantage ahead of the Test series against India as they suffered a batting collapse and just about avoided defeat against the Board President's XI in the three-day tour match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Having a conceded first innings lead of 135, the visitors chose to experiment with their batting order but the decision backfired and they plunged to 150 for eight, only 15 runs ahead and 17 overs left in the day.
It meant Jacques Kallis, who had suffered a side strain and was advised not to play, had to come out to bat at number 10.
Luckily, Kallis (12) had captain Graeme Smith (6), who had come in at number nine, for support and the two negotiated 12 overs before the match was called off with five mandatory overs remaining.
The tourists will note with deep concern that 10 of their 13 wickets that fell in the match were picked by the spinners.
Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar picked three wickets for 50 runs while leg spinner Sairaj Bahutule grabbed two for 68 for a match haul of seven for 133.
The visitors reshuffled their batting line-up so that those who did not bat in the first innings could spend some valuable time at the crease. But the batsmen failed to cope with the low, turning track and found themselves fighting to save the match.
It was the worst preparation a team could have hoped for ahead of a Test series. There was little hint of trouble when Jacques Rudolph and Zander de Bruyn added 62 runs for the opening stand.
Powar picked two wickets off successive balls when he had De Bruyn (35) caught at silly point by Y Venugopal Rao before Shaun Pollock was caught behind the very next ball.
The left-handed Rudolph cracked three fours and a six for his 31 before he failed to get back to the crease in time and was run out by wicketkeeper M S Dhoni.
Powar then struck the third blow when he took a return catch to dismiss Boeta Dippenaar (23).
It was a procession from thereon with the batsmen showing little willingness to stay at the crease.
Earlier, resuming at 320 for five, the President's team called halt to their innings an hour into the morning session, immediately after the dismissal of centurion Dinesh Mongia at 361 for six.
Mongia, 135 overnight, fell for 148 as he played all over and was bowled by Graeme Smith. The Punjab left-hander faced 289 balls during his six-hour and 19 minute stay at the crease and hit 18 fours.
Mongia was adjudged man of the match and received Rs 35,000 for his effort.
Hemang Badani remained unbeaten on 74 from 123 balls, inclusive of 11 fours, while the sixth-wicket partnership was worth 154 from 256 balls.
The declaration, which came into the second over after the drinks break, seemed a bit puzzling as it denied Badani a well deserved century.
The Tamil Nadu left-hander has been timing the ball very well despite looking hampered a bit in his movements. He was on 52 when he edged Makhaya Ntini for a catch to slip but the delivery was declared a no-ball.
South Africa are to play two Tests against India, with first starting in Kanpur on November 20.
Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings): 226 for 5 decl.
Board President's XI (1st innings):
D Jadhav lbw Ntini 12
G Gambhir c Tsolekile b Pollock 26
S Ramesh lbw Hall 9
D Mongia b Smith 148
V Rao c Hall b de Bruyn 29
M S Dhoni c Tsolekile b Ontong 39
H Badani not out 74
Extras: (b-2, lb-17, nb-5) 24
Total: (for 6 wkts decl. in 107.2 overs) 361
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-55, 3-61, 4-117, 5-208
Bowling: Shaun Pollock 15-7-25-1, Makhaya Ntini 20-5-53-1, Andrew Hall 17-4-54-1, Jacques Kallis 3-1-6-0, Justin Ontong 19-1-100-1, Zander de Bruyn 14-6-23-1, Graeme Smith 8.2-0-40-1, Hashim Amla 11-1-41-0.
South Africa (2nd innings):
J Rudolph run out 31
Z de Bruyn c Rao b Powar 35
S Pollock c Dhoni b Powar 0
B Dippenaar c and b Powar 23
H Amla lbw Mongia 15
J Ontong lbw Bahutule 11
T Tsolekile b Bhandari 18
A Hall c Dhoni b Bahutule 15
G Smith not out 6
J Kallis not out 12
Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-3) 6
Total: (for 8 wkts in 68 overs) 172
Bowling: Amit Bhandari 8-3-33-1, Shib Shankar Paul 3-0-9-0, Sairaj Bahutule 27-6-68-2, Ramesh Powar 26-10-50-3, Dinesh Mongia 4-0-9-1.
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