MOHALI, India-- Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
Pujara compiled his seventh half-century in tests to lead India to 125 for two at stumps, an overall lead of 142 in the low-scoring match.
He added 86 for the second wicket with Murali Vijay (47), who fell to an acrobatic catch at short leg by substitute fielder Temba Bavuma, after opener Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for his second duck of the match to Vernon Philander.
India captain Virat Kohli was unbeaten on 11.
Dale Steyn, the world's number one bowler, was troubled by a tight groin and did not take the field as a precaution in a blow to South Africa's hopes of restricting India to a low total in the second innings.
AB de Villiers struggled initially but made a swashbuckling 63 off 83 balls to top score for his side, who conceded a first-innings lead of 17.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, returning to the test arena for the first time in almost 15 months, took three wickets while leg-spinner Amit Mishra picked up the other two.
South Africa, who resumed on 28-2 after dismissing the hosts for 201, appeared set for a first-innings lead through a stubborn third-wicket stand of 76 between Dean Elgar (37) and captain Hashim Amla (43) before Ashwin struck.
The 29-year-old, who had dismissed Stiaan van Zyl the previous evening, sent back Elgar after the opening batsman had kept India at bay for 75 minutes along with Amla.
Kohli opted not to open with Ashwin and Jadeja, who looked the most likely to pick up wickets on a Mohali pitch offering plenty of assistance to the spin bowlers, but soon found success once he did turn to them.
Elgar survived some nervous moments until he attempted a rash slog-sweep against Ashwin, with the ball taking a top edge and falling into the hands of Jadeja at short third man.
Amla looked unperturbed and displayed a solid technique against the Indian slow bowlers before he fell in a freakish way to the off-spinner.
The right-hander danced down the track but missed the ball, which hit wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha's chest to drop on the off-stump with Amla short of his crease.
Ashwin also dismissed wicketkeeper Dane Vilas (1) in the same over for his fourth wicket, after the batsman top-edged a sweep for Jadeja to complete a tumbling catch at short fine leg.
De Villiers survived a confident appeal for caught behind off Jadeja before he had opened his account and after a few more loud leg before appeals against him were turned down, the 31-year-old finally edged the left-arm spinner to Kohli.
However, he was given not out after replays showed the bowler had marginally overstepped during the delivery.
De Villiers then went on the attack and completed his 37th fifty in tests before getting bowled by a beautiful delivery from Mishra.

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati tight end Tyler Eifert caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Andy Dalton as the Bengals remained unbeaten with a 31-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium.
  Cincinnati improved to 8-0 for the first time in franchise history.
  Dalton came in 3-7 in his career in prime-time games but delivered a steady performance, going 21 of 27 for 263 yards and three touchdowns.
  Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel started in place of injured Josh McCown and played well in spots, passing for 168 yards and a touchdown.
  But Cincinnati's defense sacked him three times in the second half, during which the Browns (2-7) managed just 32 total yards.
  Cincinnati figured to run the ball against the worst rush defense in the league, and they had 154 yards on the ground, led by Gio Bernard's 71.
  On Cleveland's first possession of the third quarter, Manziel appeared to have gained 13 yards on third-and-12 from his own 10-yard line.
  But a Cincinnati challenge overturned the spot.
  The Bengals converted that decision into three points when a 28-yard field goal by Mike Nugent gave them a 17-10 lead.
  The clinching touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when receiver Mohamed Sanu scored on a 25-yard reverse making the score 24-10.

 PARIS-- Novak Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3) 7-6 (8) in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Friday to claim his 20th consecutive win and stay on course for an unprecedented third title in a row at the event.
  Both players conceded only one break point as all games went to serve and the world number one prevailed on his second match point to set up a semi-final meeting with fourth seed Stan Wawrinka or 14-times grand slam champion Rafa Nadal.
  A day after his serve was less than perfect against Gilles Simon, Djokovic was extremely accurate with his delivery and played better on the key points to see off Czech Berdych, the 2005 champion.
  The Serb now has a 20-2 win-loss record against Berdych who has been beaten in all their 16 matches on a hard court.
  Earlier, Andy Murray reached the last four for the first time when he saw off local favourite Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7) 3-6 6-3.
  The world number three allowed the French 10th seed to come back into the contest when he was let down by his first serve in the second set but regained his momentum.
  Murray next plays Spain's David Ferrer who downed big- serving John Isner 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-2, with the American finishing the match exhausted.
  Briton Murray got off to a strong start, breaking in the second game on his way to a 3-0 lead.
  Gasquet, however, remained aggressive, took his chances and was rewarded with a break of serve in the seventh game as his opponent grew cautious.
  The Frenchman, backed by a partisan Bercy crowd, went 5-3 up in the tiebreak and at 6-5 Murray saved a set point with a superb sliced passing shot before going on to clinch the opener.
  Murray was forced on to the back foot in the second set and managed only six winners, compared to 20 in the opener, as Gasquet levelled.
  The Olympic and twice grand slam champion struggled on serve and allowed his opponent to break for 2-1 in the decider but quickly got back on track.
  Murray stole Gasquet's serve before breaking again for a 5-3 advantage and then wrapping up victory.

LONDON-- Borussia Dortmund and Napoli were the headline acts to qualify for the Europa League knockout stage as both sides plundered a glut of goals in Thursday's early group matches.
  Dortmund brushed aside Azerbaijani outfit FK Qabala 4-0 in Germany while Napoli went one better with a 5-0 home thrashing of Danish side Midtjylland.
  They will be joined in the last 32 by Molde, who beat former European champions Celtic 2-1 away and Rapid Vienna, who won by the same score at Viktoria Plzen.
  Braga and Sion, however, will have to wait after missing out on the chance of moving forward with two group matches to spare.
  There were some superb finishes to savour as Dortmund eased past Qabala with Germany forward Marco Reus scoring first with an unstoppable low drive after 28 minutes to ensure the Germans had found the net in each of their last 31 competitive games.
  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the lead with a left-foot effort before halftime and a Sergei Zenjov own goal made it 3-0.
  Henrikh Mkhitaryan rounded off the scoring with a shot that thundered into the net off the bar with 20 minutes remaining, leaving Dortmund top of Group C with 10 points.
  Napoli waltzed into the knockout rounds and equalled their record European victory with goals from Omar El Kaddouri, a Manolo Gabbiadini double, Christian Maggio and Jose Callejon.
  The Italians are now unbeaten in 14 matches across all competitions and sit top of Group D with an unblemished 12 points from their four games.
  Mohamed Elyounoussi and the 40-year-old Daniel Hestad were on target for Norwegian champions Molde as they extended their Group A lead and secured their spot in knockout stage.
  There were also celebrations for Rapid Vienna who scored a goal in each half through Philipp Schobesberger to beat Plzen and maintain their 100 percent record in Group E.
  New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Sion.
  Jordon Ibe netted his first goal for Liverpool, latching on to a neat pass from Roberto Firmino to power into the penalty area and fire right-footed into the bottom corner.
  Sion had the chance to secure an early spot in the last 32 with a win over Girondins Bordeaux, but needed a 94th-minute own goal from Clement Chantome to snatch a 1-1 draw.
  Braga were also denied an early qualification party as they suffered their first defeat in 10 games and lost their 100 percent record in Group F after a 1-0 defeat at Olympique de Marseille with Georges-Kevin N'Koudou scoring in the 39th.