India look to the weather to save Second Test

India may have one important, if unpredictable, ally in their bid to save the second Castle Lager/MTN Test match against South Africa at St George's Park on Tuesday - the unsettled Eastern Cape weather.

When play was finally called off on Monday evening, the Indians, who need to score 395 to win, were 28 for one in their second innings. They had batted for 75 minutes which brought the total play possible during the day - in three separate periods - to 109 minutes during which 25 overs in all were bowled.

They need to bat through the last day to save the match and stay in the three-Test series, but as onerous as this task might seem, there is always the possibility that the weather might have the last say.

It was, in fact, a little surprising that as much as 105 minutes play was possible on the fourth day. All day a thick covering of cloud hung over the ground, periodically unloading itself on St George's Park and it is testimony to the drainage of the ground that play resumed remarkably quickly after each rain break.

The forecast for Tuesday is more "heavy rain" in the area, in which case the focus of interest for the day will turn to the fate awaiting the five Indian players, together with captain Sourav Ganguly, who were called before match referee Mike Denness on Monday.

Sachin Tendulkar had to go before the beak as a result of television footage which allegedly showed him tampering with the ball (lifting the seam, to be precise) while Harbhajan Singh, Shiv Das, Deep Dasgupta and Virender Sehwag have been carpeted for excessive appealing and dissent. The captain is there because he's the captain.

Denness held a hearing at 8.30am on Monday and another after the close of play in the evening. A statement, however, will not be issued before Tuesday morning, according to United Cricket Board officials.

Of course, there might well be more cricket than expected on Tuesday, to follow Monday's 25 overs, during the course of which South Africa advanced their second innings score to 233 for five before declaring and then had Shaun Pollock nip out Das with the fifth ball of the Indian second innings.

Das hadn't scored at that stage, and it was left to Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid to see their side through to the close with Dasgupta, who has made a decent fist of his new job as an opening bat, is on 22 with Dravid on 3.

The other consequence of the South African declaration was to leave Jacques Kallis unbeaten on 89 and Pollock on 55. It was Pollock's ninth Test 50 and Kallis's 18th, although Kallis will not be entirely happy at having been denied his 10th Test century.

The odds are still stacked heavily in South Africa's favour, with the pitch still behaving unpredictably, but if India can show the resolution offered by Dasgupta and Dravid on Monday evening and the weather plays it part, the tourists could still go Centurion Park later this week with a chance of levelling the series.