India lost Ajinkya Rahane (15) in the last ball before the break as the visitors lost four wickets in the morning session of Day 4 and managed to add 74 runs to their overnight total of 284/2.
After extending the lead to over 350 runs, India lost Virat Kohli (96), Rohit Sharma (6) and Cheteshwar Pujara (153) in quick succession.
Part-time spinner JP Duminy struck in the 99th over to stop the in-form Kohli from scoring another hundred in the match as the latter edged one to the wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.
India are suddenly reduced to 325/4 in 98.4 overs, a lead of 361 runs, from a very commanding 315/2 in 93.1 overs.
Kohli hit nine boundaries in his watchful 193-ball knock but unfortunately missed the ton by just four runs.
Veteran allrounder Jacques Kallis struck twice to halt the run charge of the Indian batsmen, as he dismissed Sharma and Pujara quickly. Kallis clean bowled Sharma to pick up his third victim of the innings.
Pujara was caught behind by De Villiers off Kallis, after the right-hander smacked 21 fours for his majestic knock of 153 off 270 balls. Pujara added 222 runs with Kohli for the third wicket to put India in the front seat.
Pujara reached 150 soon after India crossed the 300-run mark in their second innings.
This is the fourth time that Pujara crossed the 150-run mark in the 16 Test matches that he has played.
In first class cricket, Pujara has scored six double centuries and three triple hundreds.
The day's play started with Pujara and Virat Kohli resuming the Indian second innings.
The third day of the Test was a fantastic one for India and they are firmly in the driving seat.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did the job with the ball in the morning session, then Pujara and Kohli batted like champions and by the end of Day 3, India had a commanding 320-run lead with eight wickets in hand.
Ishant and Zaheer took four wickets each to bundle the hosts out, giving only 31 runs in the morning.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was out early but Murali Vijay and Pujara played well after which Jacques Kallis struck to dismiss Vijay.
But Pujara and Kohli played splendidly to pick the right balls and played their shots as the South African bowlers began to tire.
Pujara who was dropped on 51 by Imran Tahir, went on to score his 6th Test century and along with Kohli added 175 runs in the last session of the day to take the Indian lead to the 320-run mark.
With Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and captain MS Dhoni to follow, India will look to set South Africa a steep target.
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