South Africa’s Hashim Amla after his hundred in Chennai on Thursday. (AFP)

Chennai: One-day and Twenty20 formats have been threatening to dislodge Test cricket from the pedestal in the subcontinent for some time now. If the wicket at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium is any indication, henceforth it wouldn’t be tough to keep the public away from the longer version.

On a pitch that was enough to put the crowd to sleep and the batsmen to as much as they are willing to go for, South Africa reached 540 before the Indians showed they were equally adept at the task, reaching 82 without loss in 99 minutes.

If Indian cricket had taken a few strides after the tour Down Under, the over-reliance on such flat tracks at home will only serve to offset that advantage. The call for true sporting pitches with bounce and carry has again fallen on deaf ears.

The visitors feasted on traditional Indian hospitality to record their highest score in India that included as many as 81 boundaries. Their last four wickets fell for 40 runs with Harbhajan Singh doing the bulk of the damage.

At close on the second day of the Future Cup series, with four of the stipulated 90 overs remaining to be bowled, Wasim Jaffer (25 batting) and Virender Sehwag (52 batting) seemed ready to join the party.

Jaffer’s elegance and Sehwag’s flamboyance almost made it seem like they were rehearsing for the forthcoming Indian Premier League. Flashy drives and a sliced six over the slips cordon off Makhaya Ntini were the highlights of Sehwag’s 61-ball knock.

Nothing, however, could undermine the efforts put in by the South Africans, led by Hashim Amla.

The bowling teetered from the adequate, in the case of the two spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan, through the ordinariness of Sreesanth, to the desperate inadequacy of Rudra Pratap Singh. Fielding degenerated into a litany of fumbles and mis-fields.

The Indians tried three overs of spin in the morning, but with Amla and AB de Villiers cutting and pulling away, the switch to pace was inevitable. Sreesanth started with the second new ball but soon forgot the basics as he decided to unnecessarily sledge at De Villiers.

The batsman never reacted but if that was meant to disturb his concentration, the pacer was successful. Soon he induced an edge to one moving away and Mahendra Singh Dhoni dived to his right to hold on. An alert substitute Yuvraj Singh ran in from short cover to prevent Sreesanth from continuing his theatrics at the dismissal.

But there was no let up in the South African domination as Amla and Mark Boucher carried on with their contrasting ways, adding 99 for the sixth wicket. Amla’s solid 159 (406 minutes, 262 balls, 20x4), his fourth century and first against a team other than New Zealand, provided the ideal platform.

Amla, the first South African of Indian descent (forefathers from Surat) to make the national squad and a devout Muslim, showed good temperament and judicious shot selection during his innings. He demonstrated enduring skill and an indomitable will.

The Indians were forced to pay for their profligate, unprofitable ways. The pacers were cut and pulled in buccaneer fashion as they dared not bowl a full length, and the spinners were given the charge often. RP’s performance was enough to raise doubts about his fitness. This was his first match since the return from Australia with a hamstring injury.

It was enough for Kumble to start wringing his hands in worry as they bowled a defensive line in an effort to limit the damage.

The Indians waited for the batsmen to make mistakes or hoped for some divine intervention. It happened when Boucher played the ball to the cover region and though Sreesanth threw at the wrong end, Dhoni showed presence of mind to throw the ball at the other for Kumble to whip off the bails.

Once Sehwag returned to remove Boucher for 70 (217 minutes, 9x4), Harbhajan ensured the tail did not wag too long. The off-spinner’s 21st five-wicket haul though lacked the verve and charisma of a champion. But considering the circumstances, he surely deserves a pat.

DAY II HIGHLIGHTS

Hashim Amla (159) scored his fourth Test century and his first against India. This is also his first century outside South Africa. Coincidentally, all his hundreds before Thursday have come against New Zealand. The previous instances are:

176* — Vs NZ (Wanderers, 2007-08)

149 — Vs NZ (Cape Town, 2005-06)

103 — Vs NZ (Centurion, 2007-08)

South Africa have never lost any Test where Amla has scored more than 40 runs

Mark Boucher’s (70) knock was his best versus India in a Test, surpassing the unbeaten 68 in Port Elizabeth (2001-02)

The last time a score of 500-plus was made in the first innings of a Test in Chennai was in 1992-93 when India made 560 for 6. India won that match

South Africa scored 500-plus in a Test for the second time on Indian soil, surpassing their 510/9 in Kanpur (2004-05)

Morne Morkel (35) recorded his best score in Tests, overshadowing his 31 not out against India in Durban (2006-07)

South African batsmen hit 81 fours in their innings — the most by a visiting team on Indian soil. While doing so, they went past Australia’s record of 78 fours in the tied Test in 1986-87

Wasim Jaffer hit the third six of his Test career and his first on Indian soil. His three sixes have been hit off D. Mohammad (WI), J. Anderson (Eng) and now M. Nitini (SA)

For Virender Sehwag (52), it was his third consecutive 50-plus score in Tests. In Adelaide, against Australia, he scored 63 and 151, respectively