THEY CAME in their thousands on a hot, sultry morning, enticed by the prospect of a world record and perhaps Sachin Tendulkar’s last Test appearance in Madras. But the Indian fans trudged off in the evening with the realisation that South Africa are not here to make up the numbers. After being pummelled for 386 runs on the third day, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and friends produced a stirring riposte, limiting the home side’s lead to 87, then batting with confidence for a second time to lead by 44 runs with nine wickets standing.

The morning buzz centred around Virender Sehwag, unbeaten on 309 overnight. The talk was of Brian Lara’s record score of 400 and a potentially matchwinning lead. But South Africa were a different proposition with the second new ball. With Rahul Dravid kept scoreless, the onus was again on Sehwag to force the pace.

A nonchalant pull for four off Ntini was his 42nd boundary to go with five sixes and had the crowd baying for more. The next ball, pitched a little wide of off-stump, drew him into the drive. For once, there was eerie silence as Neil McKenzie held on to a sharp chance at first slip.

Sehwag’s 319 spanned 304 balls and put him in elite company alongside Sir Donald Bradman and Lara as the only men to have made two Test triple-centuries. It was the highest score by an Indian, breaking his own 309 (exactly four years ago in Multan) and the highest on Indian soil, eclipsing VVS Laxman’s magical 281 at Calcutta in 2001. Enter Tendulkar, at a venue where he had four centuries and an average of 81. Again Ntini played party-pooper, slanting one in to take the outside edge. Jacques Kallis held on and Tendulkar walked forlornly back after five balls.

Through that phase, Dravid had eked out three runs from 30 balls, but when he reached 80, the bat was raised and waved in acknowledgement of 10,000 Test runs, only the sixth man, and the third Indian, to achieve the feat. Although he was stranded on 99 at lunch, the century came three balls later, with a crisp drive down to long-on.

His 25th century took him past Sir Vivian Richards and Greg Chappell, his former coach, on the all-time list, and was his first in 19 Tests against opposition other than Bangladesh. It had taken him 272 balls, six fewer than Sehwag needed for his triple. When Dravid fell soon after, edging the rejuvenated Ntini to slip, the innings started to unravel.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was always ill at ease against the short ball. Steyn soon had him fending one behind off the glove. The rest was carnage. Laxman made 39, but the others were swept away by Steyn reverse swing.

There was still a tricky final session to negotiate, but with India’s bowlers off target, Graeme Smith could deal in boundaries before, on 35, Harbhajan Singh deceived him with a straighter one. What remained of the deficit was swiftly eaten away as McKenzie and Hashim Amla added an unbeaten 78.

“I pretty much coasted through the past five to six years of my career,” said Dravid later in the evening with the match surely meandering to a draw. “I had to work pretty hard [to get] from 9,000 to 10,000. In some ways it was a sign for me to learn to enjoy these things, learn to reflect on these moments. The last 1,000 has been a learning curve.”

Final day, Sky Sports 2, 5.55am