Amla's double century puts SAfrica in driver's seat against India

Amla's double ton puts SAfrica in driver's seat

Hashim Amla's maiden double century to tighten their grip over the first cricket Test in Nagpur on Sunday.

Amla (253 not out) lit up the second day's proceedings with his unbeaten marathon double century -- a product of more than 11 hours of ceaseless vigil -- even though the co-star of his 340-run partnership Jacques Kallis (173) missed the mark.

Among others, AB de Villiers (53) chipped in with a useful half-century before South Africa declared their first innings at 558 for six, hoping to make some early dents in the remaining four overs of the day.

That, however, did not happen as Indian openers Virender Sehwag (9) and Gautam Gambhir (12) stayed put at the crease, guiding the side to 25 for no loss with the hosts still trailing by 533 runs and needing 314 to avoid follow-on.

For India, Zaheer Khan (3/96) was the most successful bowler, while Harbhajan Singh bled 166 runs for his couple of scalps.

Harbhajan got the well-awaited breakthrough just after the first hour in the morning by having Kallis caught at short leg by Vijay.