India grinded through the final day of the third test against South Africa at Cape Town to level the three-match series at 1-1. Requiring 340 runs in the final day, India set out for a draw and helped by Gautam Gambhir's 64 they had scored 166-3 when the Proteas captain Graeme Smith decided to call it a day with 8 overs left to bowl.

On a wearing pitch, South Africa's hopes of bowling India out and forcing a victory were thwarted with VVS Laxman (32 not out ) and Rahul Dravid (31) impersonating walls to block the South African assault.

In the post-match presentation ceremony, South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said, It was a terrific series. It was very competitive. Every day and every session were really good. The teams are very even and that shows in how competitive the cricket is.

Jacques Kallis was adjudged to be the Man of the Match for his centuries in both innings. It's up there with the best innings I've played, he said. I'm playing as well as I've ever played. I've worked on my game for the last three to four years, tried to up my scoring rate and hopefully there are a lot more runs to come in the years ahead.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni was delighted with the way his team came back after the heavy defeat at the Centurion to level the series. It was a very interesting series and it's good to come from behind, he said. The batsmen did their job and the bowlers did really well in Durban. At the end of the day we will be happy with our performance.

The two sides will play a Twenty20 international on January 9th, Sunday, followed by a five-match one-day series.

South Africa named their squad for the one-day series and it included two uncapped players - Pakistan born Imran Tahir and Francois du Plessis who replaces the injured Kallis.

South Africa squad - Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe