India are the Durbanators!

Unplayable, was it? Beast would have been a better word.

Jacques Kallis has never faced a Malcolm Marshall or Joel Garner. But he got a glimpse of their ability when Shanthakumaran Sreesanth hurled one at him on Wednesday. The pace, bounce and direction of the snorter took him by surprise. He flinched, jumped, huffed and puffed, and then tamely offered his glove at it.

Umpire Steve Davis was not sure of the legality of the delivery. He checked with the third umpire if it was a no-ball. Like the South African batsman, the Australian umpire, too, did not expect an Indian to bowl like a West Indian!

It was not just an unplayable delivery but the best one, reserved for the best batsman. The turning point, needless to say, came early on day four and the match was won and lost at that stage.

There were no twists and turns from thereon as South Africa never recovered from that blow. The world’s No 1 team only had to go through the motions and finally conquered a few demons at Kingsmead.

Although Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to rate this win, it would go down as one of the best in the 20 Tests he has captained India in so far. It would also go down as one of the best away victories for a side which is known to be a bully at home. The 87-run win also levelled the series, turning the third and final Test in Cape Town into a virtual final.

A couple of dubious lbw decisions — against AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher — from either ends hastened India’s victory but the result was achieved with a fierce will that was backed by power-packed performances.

Predictably, there were calls from Graeme Smith that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should not leave the matter of the umpires decision review system (UDRS) to the boards, but the South Africa captain knew his team was outplayed on a wicket where batting was as easy as swimming in a crocodile-infested lake. He also knew that his side did not have a batsman of Man of the Match VVS Laxman’s class.

Ashwell Prince tried to resuscitate the home team’s chase for 303 but it was a knock that looked like an effort to save his place in the side than take it home. There was little conviction in the southpaw’s unbeaten 39 and South Africa’s spluttering struggle ended an hour after lunch. They were all out for 215 after last man Lonwabo Tsotsobe was run out. The dismissal sparked wild celebrations among the Indian players who had registered their greatest Test victory of 2010.

Although Sreesanth provided the star turn with the scalp of Kallis, Harbhajan Singh bowled with a lot of tenacity and control to keep the South Africans quiet at one end.

For once, he proved his utility with the ball — rather than with the bat — with a match haul of six wickets. In the second innings, he had two important wickets, those of de Villiers and Alviro Petersen. But the best bowler was, indisputably, Zaheer Khan whose return morphed the side dramatically. He, too, claimed six wickets.

The Indian attack proved that it can match any side in the world in pace power. After the match, skipper Dhoni dared the South Africans to dish out another green top in Cape Town “The greener the better,” he declared. Did anyone ever hear that from an India captain?