Proteas left to ponder on how not to play

in Delhi DAY four! How the hell did we get here? Somehow, the somewhat bitter, never sweet melodrama in three-and-a-bit acts that has been SA’s test series in India boldly went where it had not gone before yesterday.

For the first time besides the damp draw in Bangalore, three days have not been enough to settle the issue. But India will surely win again and SA will be left to ponder another display of test cricket, how not to play.

This time, the pitch is innocent. It isn’t great, but it isn’t awful. It’s an Indian pitch, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing like the surface on which the home side contrived a tainted victory in Nagpur.

SA have tried to convince themselves that an irrelevant match was relevant. They have failed, and accordingly they have played poor cricket.

Who can blame them? The contest was culled six days before this game started.

But let’s pretend for a moment. This morning, India will resume 403 runs ahead — al-

The longer they bat, the happier we are; it takes more overs out of the game

ready 127 more than has been scored to win a test here.

In 81 overs of treading water yesterday, India oozed 190 runs — 83 of them by Virat Kohli in an unbroken stand of 133 with Ajinkya Rahane, who was 52 not out. They lost four wickets, three to Morne Morkel.

“The longer they bat, the happier we are; it takes more overs out of the game,” Kyle Abbott said wearily.

The series was captured in a cartoon after lunch, when Kohli swished at Imran Tahir and was given out caught behind.

The captain stood motionless at the crease, his gloved fists thrust onto his hips, his sharp little elbows jabbing the air, his spark-plug eyes flaring at Bruce Oxenford much as he glares at anyone who has dared question the quality of the pitches.

Seconds ticked away as Kohli posed for his petulant pout, until Oxenford called for replays that showed Tahir had overstepped.

The Indian media spent much of the day ignoring what was happening. Instead, they covered the storm in a manilla envelope that was the late cancellation of a “felicitation ceremony” — yes, that really is what it’s called — for 10 former players that Delhi’s state had planned for the Ferozeshah Kotla before play yesterday.

But the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Anurag Thakur, nixed that idea, citing playing conditions that say the field may not be used for other activities once a match is in progress.

It bears pointing out that Delhi is not controlled by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — which counts Thakur among its members in the Lok Sabha, India’s parliament.

Politics. Intrigue. And day four!