India face an uphill battle if they are to avoid another home Test series defeat after South Africa made 489 on day two of the second Test in Guwahati.
Senuran Muthusamy scored his first Test century and fellow all-rounder Marco Jansen a career-best 93 as the lower order of the Proteas, who are 1-0 up in the two-match series, frustrated the hosts by keeping them in the field for much of the day.
Resuming on 25 not out, Muthusamy shared a stand of 88 with Verreynne and 97 with Jansen before being dismissed for 109 from 206 balls.
While Muthusamy dug in, Jansen pushed the scoring on by striking seven sixes in his 91-ball knock.
No team has made as many runs in the first innings of a Test in India and gone on to lose the match.
India’s frustration was compounded by the umpires taking the players off for bad light after just 6.1 overs of their reply. They were 9-0.
India went 12 years without losing a Test series at home until they were beaten 3-0 by New Zealand last year.
Though they beat West Indies 2-0 in October, failure to turn around this Test would mean a second home series defeat in little over 12 months.