India, Nov. 25 -- For four days, Guwahati has looked like two different grounds: a flat, forgiving highway whenever South Africa bat, and a restless, spiky surface when India are out there. The temptation is to blame the 22 yards.

In reality, the pitch has been remarkably consistent. It is how the teams have batted that has created this split-screen illusion.

Let us start with South Africa's first innings. They were properly tested early, but once they got through the new ball, the red-soil wicket settled into a classic subcontinental "good pitch": even bounce, decent pace, little sideways movement or turn. The real damage came late in their innings, the last four wickets adding over 200 runs, when the ball was old, the surface was at i...