The South African cricketers have ended the opening day of the second test against India in Kolkata on 266 for 9.
Debutant Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla scored centuries as the tourists were 218 for 2, before India ripped through the rest of the batting to leave the tourists in trouble.
Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh finished with three wickets each.
India, who lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, need a win to square the series and retain their number one position in the official Test rankings.
