CALCUTTA, 2 December 2004 — Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh ran through the South African top order to give India a whiff of a series victory on the fourth day of the second Test yesterday.

Harbhajan grabbed the first four wickets, including captain Graeme Smith for 71, as the tourists were reduced to 172 for five in their second innings on a slow Eden Gardens pitch starting to turn considerably.

First-innings centurion Jacques Kallis kept South African hopes alive with an unbeaten 52 but the tourists were just 66 ahead when bad light stopped play. Zander de Bruyn was on nine.

Anil Kumble added the scalp of Boeta Dippenaar, moving within two wickets of Kapil Dev’s Indian record 434 Test victims.

Earlier, India were all out for 411 on the stroke of lunch. Wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, playing in his third Test, recorded a career-best 46, including six fours.

Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini finished with figures of four for 112 as the hosts added 52 to their overnight 359 for six.

Ntini struck in the day’s sixth over, having Pathan (24) caught at first slip and then removed Kumble for eight, snapped up by Kallis in the slip cordon from a rising delivery.

Shaun Pollock picked up the next wicket, trapping Karthik lbw when he shuffled across to a ball pitching on middle stump.

Harbhajan and Khan added a streaky 24 runs for the last wicket to get India past 400.

South Africa started their reply with Smith and Hall having little trouble against left-arm seamers Pathan and Khan.

Smith pulled Pathan for two fours and immaculately drove Khan through the covers as South Africa raced to 50, Hall joining in to sweep Harbhajan over mid-wicket for six.

The batsmen looked more tentative with spinners Kumble and Harbhajan bowling in tandem but it took a freak dismissal for India to make their first breakthrough. Harbhajan had Hall caught behind for 21 after gloving an attempted sweep on to his helmet.

The off-spinner struck again in his next over, trapping Jacques Rudolph lbw for three when the left-hander did not offer a shot to a straight ball. He could have got a third wicket just before tea when umpire Daryl Harper turned down an appeal for a bat-pad catch. Television replays showed Kallis had nicked the ball.

Kallis capitalized on that chance, batting doggedly even as wickets tumbled at the other end. Smith was brilliantly caught at slip by Vangipurappu Laxman, who dived high to his left to hold a thick edge. The 24-year-old off-spinner then removed Hashim Amla, caught at pad-bad, before Kumble dismissed Dippenaar.

Meanwhile, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly landed in fresh trouble yesterday when umpires officiating in the ongoing second Test against South Africa reported him for dissent.

“The umpires have reported the matter and we will make an announcement after a hearing with Ganguly,” match referee Jeff Crowe said.

Ganguly showed disappointment after an appeal for a catch against Jacques Kallis was turned down.