Running diary - Day 1: Dilshan and Mathews keep India at bay
10:00pm: Sri Lanka will hope to get to 400 if it can today. Muttaiah Muralitharan is not expected to last much longer, realistically speaking, so it is up to Angelo Mathews to do most of the damage. What is also of interest is whether he can reach a century, having gone to bed on 86.
10:07pm: Oooh..close. Sreesanth gets Mathews to edge just short of second slip. To add insult, it races away to the third man fence. Sreesanth decides to try to do it himself now and promptly gives up 6 more runs. Mathews eases to within a boundary of a well-deserved century.
10:12pm: I am speechless. Mathews, who seemed to have all the time in the world since the Indians were not even trying to get him out, has just run himself out going for the second run. I think he has. He pull-hooked a short-pitched ball from Sreesanth to the deep where the prowling Sachin Tendulkar (SRT) fired in a typical Sachin throw - flat, hard, and right to the keeper. MS Dhoni collects the ball and hits the wickets. There are three angles for the 3rd umpire to look at. Would you believe it? The square-leg umpire is obscuring a part of the first one, the slip fielder is blocking the second angle and the keeper is partially blocking the third angle. Incredible. You couldn't script this with any more drama. The composite picture of all three suggests that Mathews is out. Oh dear...the only thing saving him would be the "inconclusive evidence" clause. But it looked out to me. And the 3rd umpire agrees. Mathews is cruelly run-out on 99. Poor guy.
10:13pm: Chanaka Welegedara hits the first ball he faces to the straight boundary, and his batting suggests that Mathews should not have panicked and tried to get to his century so hastily. This man looks like he knows how to hold the bat.
10:22pm: Well, Pragyan Ojha wraps up the innings. After conceding a boundary to a Welegedara shimmy, he traps him LBW right in front of leg-stump. Third wicket for Ojha and Sri Lanka is all out for 393 in 94.4 overs.
The Indian innings will start shortly. Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag will be relieved they did not have to wait too long to get to bat today.
10:40pm: Welegedara begins by making Vijay play every ball, giving up a flick for four off the 4th ball to get the Indian innings going. No looseners for him. Are you paying attantion, Zaheer Khan? The last ball is gently nudged away for a single to cover and India are on their way. Over gaaji, Mr. Vijay.
5 for no loss in 1 over.
10:45am: A simple forward push from Vijay fetches three runs off Nuwan Kulasekara. No swing for the Sri Lankan bowlers so far. Three slips, a gully, and a forward short-leg for Sehwag. Over there in New Zealand Umar Akmal is at it again, thwarting another Kiwi push. Simple push by Sehwag takes him off the mark.
10:50am: Vijay continues from where he left off against the Aussies, simply pushing to covers and getting Sehwag on strike. Sangakkara is not bothering with deep fielders on the off-side. Thank you!!!! Attack, sir, attack. And that is what he is doing, with a short mid-off for the first time this series. Sehwag just beats him and gets three to end the over and keep strike. "Over gaaji that," he says to Vijay!
16 for no loss in 3 overs, Vijay on 12, Sehwag on 4.
10:55pm: Sehwag greets Kulasekara with a four to midwicket.The next ball is a b-e-a-u-t-y, beating his prod outside the off-stump. The first ball to really swing in this innings so far. Sehwag plays out the rest of the over with a straight bat.
10:59pm: Vijay edges short of slip and the ball goes between first and second slip (rolling along the ground) for a four to third man. The next ball is dropped to short cover and a quick single is taken. Vijay is batting in Gambhir mode and that is good news for Sehwag, who likes to keep moving, even if it is for runs for his partner. Sehwag flicks the next ball to deep square-leg and the duo pinch a quick two. The bounce is to Sehwag's liking here. The ball is bounced over his shoulder and he thinks about an upper cut and changes his mind. He should have gone for it, the umpire signals a front-foot no-ball. Cracking square-cut, stopped by Dilshan. "That was hit like a tracer bullet," intones Shastri (in my head, not on TV).
28 for no loss in 5 overs, Vijay on 17, Sehwag on 10.
11:05am: The last time this duo opened for India, they put on 98 and 116 runs for the first wicket in the two innings. Vijay looks like he fits at this level. On Indian pitches, at least. Sweet, sweet front foot cover drive. For no run but sweet-looking shot. Nice footwork from the young man. A backfoot punch now fetches him a single as the short cover fielder dives and stops a boundary. Sehwag plays a front foot punch to the same bowler.
30 for no loss in 6 overs, Sehwag on 11, Vijay on 18.
11:11pm: Sehwag is just 34 runs away from 6,000 Test runs. Make that 33, as he does his typical flick-pull to deep square-leg for a single. Welegedara is bowling on the off-stump now and gives up just that single in the over. It is hard to believe, considering the score, but the batsmen have been very cautious, with the runs coming off "proper cricketing shots".
By the way, I jinxed Umar Akmal. Shortly after I talked about him earlier, he got out to Darryl Tuffey and Pakistan are doing what they do best - get into a tight spot before counterattacking.
11:17pm: Kulasekara bowls a short one and Sehwag calmly pulls to deep square-leg for an easy single for him. Vijay plays the next ball from off-stump to square-leg. Careful, young paduan, careful. Play with a straight bat for now.
11:19pm: Sunil Gavaskar (SMG) helpfully reminds the viewers that Sehwag is 30 runs short of 6,000 runs, Tendulkar is 83 short of 13,000 runs, Laxman is 145 short of 7,000 runs, and ZAK is 104 runs away from 1,000 runs. Who needs a Milestone Watch when Sunny is around. Wow. By the way, Welegedara is bowling to the best field that Sangakkara has placed for Sehwag this whole series - two slips, gully point, short cover, cover, and mid-off. No folks on the deep. So Sehwag, naturally, swings freely and drills it through cover for a four. Keep the same field, Sangakkara. Be patient. Sehwag drives it straight down the ground now, stopped on the run by mid-off, limiting the damage to a single. It wont be too much longer before we see Murali bowl, I am sure. The opening bowlers are not doing much to influence the batsmen into mistakes. Very similar to the way the Sri Lankan innings began.
India 41 for no loss in 9 overs. Both batsmen on 20. Rangana Herath coming on to bowl now after a drinks break. "About 35 minutes to go for lunch," reminds SMG. Surely, he does not want the batsmen to play for lunch?
11:27am: Sehwag waltzes down the pitch and deposits Herath for a six over long-on. The man is irrepressible. The next ball is punched in the air to deep cover and gets two more runs. The field is starting to spread and he casually pads away to square-leg for an easy single. 50 run partnership between the duo, the third in three tries for them. Good job.
11:31pm: Welegedara bowls it short and wide and Sehwag steps across the stumps and thumps it (and I mean thumps it) to the point fence. Naturally, the next ball is full and the Delhiwallah calmly punches it straight down the ground to deep mid-on for four. Sangakkara's response is to strengthen the off-side with another square catcher. Yes, I like this new version of the skipper. And Welegedara helps him by bowling just outside the off-stump and Viru watches both balls go by without poking at it.
58 for no loss in 11 overs, Sehwag on 37, Vijay on 20. Sehwag is entering Seh-whack mode. Vijay needs to keep his calm and not try to match him as he will come up a distant second. This is where Gambhir is good. Not letting his partner's mood affect his own batting. Vijay sensibly gets an easy (sharp but easy) single to mid-on. Sehwag punches to long-off for another routine single. Vijay hits a beautiful cover drive for four. Nice, risk-free shot.
65 for no loss in 12 overs. Sehwag on 38, Vijay on 26.
11:42pm: Another wristy flick from Sehwag and he gets an airy-fairy four through midwicket. How many gaps can Sangakkara plug? He puts in a short midwicket now. Following the ball is just playing into Viru's hands.
11:46pm: Edged by Vijay and Mahela was standing up at slip and could not get his fingers under the ball. Gets a single off the last ball of the over and is relieved to be there. Hopefully, this will reinforce his focus.
71 for no loss in 14 overs. Sehwag on 42, Vijay on 28. Over in New Zealand, Pakistan slips to 161 for 6 and Kamran Akmal is batting on 21 in 16 balls. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
11:49pm: Beautiful backfoot square drive by Vijay for four off Kulasekara. He is very light on his feet whether going forward or backward. Deep point now comes into the picture. The exodus has begun.
75 for no loss in 15 overs. Sehwag on 42, Vijay on 32.
11:51pm: 6,000 runs for Sehwag and he gets to it in typical fashion, a slog drive for six over long-on off Herath. What a playa, what a playa! Now that the field has spread, he just taps it to deep midwicket and walks across for a single. Two balls later he repeats the dose for another 50. At one point he was 15 in 33 balls. Now he is on 50 in 54, his last 35 runs coming in 21 balls. His 6,000 runs have been scored at a strike rate of over 80.
84 for no loss in 16 overs. Sehwag on 50, Vijay on 33.
11:57pm: Sangakkara is shielding Murali from the openers as lunch approaches. Kulasekara continues and Vijay settles down, probably playing for lunch. Kulasekara bowls a slower ball that Vijay punches in the air to mid-off, drops well short though.
11:59pm: Murali comes on for the last over before lunch. Sehwag walks down and keeps walking to the non-strikers' end after punching to long-on. The fielder is brought in but Vijay gets a single to him with some quick running. Forward short-leg and slip the only close-in fielders. Sehwag leans back and slices it to point and goes on another walkabout to the other end. Vijay leans forward and ....hmmm...caresses the ball to the cover fence. What a shot to bring up lunch!
92 for no loss in 18 overs at lunch. Gautam Gambhir should count his lucky stars that he has scored 7 centuries in the last 9 Tests (or something like that). Only that purple patch is what is saving him from Vijay taking his spot! Sehwag on 53, Vijay on 38.
Back in 30 minutes. First session to India today.
12:42am: The players are back. This now becomes a test of temperament. Angelo Mathews to open. He was the sole bowler to escape stick in the second Test match. Let's see if he can continue that today. Two slips, short cover, deep point. Sehwag finds deep point and walks across again for a single. Mathews is bowling in the low 120's right now. He gets one ball to jag back in. I suspect it may be the fast off-spinner but cannot tell from the feed I am getting. Two singles in that over until the 5th ball when Sehwag plays a late cut for a four to third man. His gentlest shot of the day. Sublime. He ends the over with a walkabout single to deep point.
Sangakkara has a field for the full ball and all the runs came square of the wicket. Hmmm.
99 for no loss in 19 overs. Sehwag on 59, Vijay on 39.
12:48am: Murali continues in what should be a long spell for him. Bowling wide of the crease and Sehwag walks the ball to long-on for a single to bring up the 100 of the partnership. Gambhir not being missed so far. Sehwag reverse sweeps for four. Not really necessary, Viru. You are getting runs the conventional way. But the man is from another planet altogether.
12:52am: Welegedara is brought in and bowls the first maiden of the innings. Some relief for the visitors. Murali, Mahela, and Sangakkara are discussing the timings for the next flight to Colombo...or they are discussing what to bowl. I suspect it is the latter. Sehwag presses forward and survives a close shout for LBW. Sehwag begins to move his foot out of the way now and thrashes the 4th ball to the cover fence. Sliced it more than drove it to the vacant region. The next ball is smashed past short mid-on to long-on for a walkthrough single.
110 for no loss in 22 overs. Sehwag on 69, Vijay on 40. Vijay is on the cusp of his highest score in Tests. Sehwag is just 250 runs away from his personal best. (Editor's note: I was just joking when I wrote that. Little did I know...)
1:01am: Sehwag launches into a wide ball and smashes it to cover-point and the sweeper does not move. Welegedara responds by beating Sehwag on the backfoot defense. Good comeback. Chagrined by that experience he lets the next two balls go with a raised bat. The horror! In countless homes around the country mothers cover their kids' eyes. The fifth ball is in the same corridor but Viru has had enough. He leans forward and pushes it to point for a single. And Vijay repeats it to reach 41. Just like that, another no-fuss 6 run over.
1:05am: Vijay dances down to Murali and pats the ball back. Predictably Murali pitches it shorter and Vijay flicks it for a single. Short outside the off-stump and Sehwag just pushes it to point for a four. With a 3-6 field (cover, slip, and long-off) there are wide open spaces for Seh-whack to exploit on the off-side when Murali pushes one through outside the off-stump.
Sangakkara, if I were you I would bring in Tillakaratne Dilshan to bowl. You want Sehwag to take risks and he will not respect Dilshan enough to play him properly. Opportunities will be created for sure. (Editor's note: Reader, please mark the time - 1:05am - when I made this remark).
1:10am: Welegedara sees Murali Vijay on strike and bounds in with an eye on the maiden. Instead he bowls a wide half-volley and Vijay sends it to the cover fence. The cover drive is easily his most pleasing shot. The next ball is a good bouncer and Vijay sways out of the way, dropping his wrists. Great technique. The way he came into the squad may have been slightly off-putting but he looks like a great find for India. Reinforcing the first impression he created last year against Australia.
125 for no loss in 25 overs. Sehwag on 78, Vijay on 56.
1:14am: Murali is starting to turn the ball a great deal. He flights the ball this time and Sehwag dances down and gets his third six of the innings. Picture perfect step down and hit. Does it again and a splendid dive at mid-off restricts it to a single. Vijay dances down and flicks to deep midwicket for a single to go over gaaji again.
India 133 for no loss in 26 overs. Sehwag on 85, Vijay on 47.
1:20am: After defending 5 balls, Vijay takes a single off the last ball of the over again! Maybe this is a plan of Sangakkara's to frustrate Sehwag. If it is, it actually might have a chance.
1:22am: Sehwag must exude some nasty body odor. As soon as he comes on strike the fielders spread as far away from him as possible! He smartly takes a single that is offered. Murali Vijay dances down and hits the biggest six of the day so far, even more emphatic than Sehwag's trio to bring up his first 50 in Tests. Now he needs to consolidate and keep going on and not throw it away like Tharanga did. Vijay ends another over with a last ball single.
143 for no loss in 28 overs. Sehwag on 86, Vijay on 55.
1:26am: Welegedara continues. His agenda seems to be to keep Vijay on strike. Is that only until the last ball? Let's see. The fifth ball is on the pads and that Indian specialty, the drive-flick to midwicket is unfurled. Four more runs and one ball to go. Nope, defends the ball and Sehwag is on strike to the first ball of an over after what seems like 1400 years.
148 for no loss in 29 overs. Sehwag on 86 and Vijay on 59.
1:32am: Two simple singles to the leg side and the 150 is up. They have each played 90 balls so far in the innings. Nice distribution in spite of the over-gaajiness of Vijay, which must be an illusion then. Hah! Even as I write that, Vijay cuts Murali away to third man and scampers 3 runs to retain strike!!
1:34am: Kulasekara comes in to
167 for no loss in 31 overs. Sehwag on 92, Vijay on 70.
1:40am: Herath comes on for the last over before drinks. Sehwag is shadow batting and he is practicing jumping down the wicket and hitting over the top! Vijay on strike, though, and he steps back to cut to deep cover for an easy single to get Sehwag on strike. The crowd is alive and Sehwag defends. Five fielders on the fence for Herath and Sehwag still finds the room to step down and drive the ball straight down for a four to take us to drinks. Seriously!
172 for no loss in 32 overs. India scored 80 runs in 14 overs in this hour. Sehwag on 96, Vijay on 71. (43 for Sehwag and 33 for Vijay in that hour).
By the way, according to his CricInfo profile Vijay did not start playing cricket seriously until he was 17 years old. He is 25 now, just FYI.
1:50am: SMG on air advocates for there to be no restriction on bouncers in an over, feeling that it should be left to the umpires to decide if it is intimidatory in nature. As he says that Vijay hits the best shot of the day so far, a picture perfect straight drive to the fence. And that's saying something since the Indians have hit plenty of beautiful shots.
1:54am: Vijay hits another gorgeous cover drive off Herath and finds the fence. This is so eerily like Gambhir's scoring pattern. As Sehwag's boundaries have been restricted by the field, Vijay has upped the rate and raced into the 80's. He is just 16 runs from Sehwag now.
183 for no loss in 34 overs. Sehwag on 97 Vijay on 81.
1:57am: Murlai comes on to stop Sehwag from getting to a century. Wide outside the offstump and Sehwag misses out! No run. And hundred #17 comes up for Viru. He gets to it with a boundary (surprise! surprise!), a drive behind the keeper to a ball wide outside leg-stump to the fine-leg boundary. 100 in 100 balls. Strike rate of.....hmmm...need a calculator for that.
188 for no loss. Sehwag on 102, Vijay on 82.
Gavaskar says that the three most thankless jobs in cricket are that of a selector, umpire, and wicket-keeper. Hard to argue with that.
2:03am: Trailing by 393 runs in the first innings, just 35.4 overs into the innings India has avoided the follow-on with Sehwag slog sweeping Herath for a huge six to cow corner. Easy as that.
198 for no loss. Sehwag on 110, Vijay on 83.
2:06am: Vijay is still helmeted while Sehwag has settled into his India cap. Murali tosses it up outside the off stump and Sehwag dismisses it one bounce to deep cover. The 200 of the partnership comes up in the 37th over. Good even by ODI standards. Dilshan saves a boundary diving away to his left at cover. The same place where he caught Sehwag in the previous Test.
2:08am: Sehwag, the fashinista, now switches to a white floppy hat. Sehwag hits Herath onto the second tier of the pavilion with a man on long-on searching for it as if it were the space shuttle in orbit. Phew. Now there are 6 fielders on the boundary and Herath goes over the wicket. Sehwag reverse sweeps for a boundary! No fielder at third man. Easy as that for the magnificent maverick of modern cricket.
Somewhere in Delhi, Gambhir is packing his bags, cutting short his holiday, as the partnership reaches 214. Sehwag is on 124, Vijay on 85.
2:13am: Vijay just punches to mid-off and scampers through for a single. Sehwag thumps it to long-on for a single. The ball is jetting off his blade now. Vijay flicks a single to deep midwicket. Too easy. Time to mix it up with some move out of left-field. Wide outside the leg stump and Sehwag repeats the shot that fetched him his century and another boundary results.
221 for no loss in 39 overs. Sehwag on 129, Vijay on 87.
2:16am: The curse of 87 strikes! Vijay tries to sweep a ball that was almost yorker length and is out LBW. As plumb as it gets. This is the first sweep he has attempted all day. Bad time to change his mode of batting. Unfortunate dismissal. That was the carrom ball that Herath bowls.
Dravid comes in
221 for 1 in 40 overs. Sehwag on 129, Dravid on 0. The slog over phase of ODI's are at hand now. I wish someone would remind Sehwag that he can bat like this in ODI's, too.
2:22am: Perplexingly, Kulasekara comes back to bowl, replacing Murali. This was a good time to get Murali to settle into a rhythm bowling to Dravid. Sehwag greets Kulasekara with a two bounce thump to the midwicket fence. Welcome, sir, my name is Viru. To Nuwan's relief Sehwag gets a single off the next ball only to see Dravid guide it to third man for a single. Sehwag then walks a single to deep cover. This is about the only defective part of Sehwag's game. He "walks" so many runs without grounding his bat that he is often scurrying to quickly put his bat down in time if an alert fielder throws at the stumps very quickly. Here's an example that involves Sangakkara doing it to Sehwag:
2:30am: Dravid is taking his time settling in, as he usually does and Sehwag is getting antsy. A reverse sweep, a step outside legstump to try to drive inside out to cover fetch singles and indicate his wish to get on with it.
2:31am: Luckily for Sehwag, Kulasekara gives him a short ball outside off-stump and the sentinels outside the third man boundary throw the ball back. Satiated by the boundary, Sehwag now walks a single to long-on. Dravid, who is batting on 2 runs in 12 balls, is batting to a slip, a cover and a mid-off with two fielders deep in the off-side. Ugh! Easy punch to deep cover for a single and Sehwag is back on strike. Sehwag is stretching his back and decides to thump it, just clearing mid-on for another boundary to get to 146 and then hits it along the ground for a single. His back is definitely bothering him. Eight minutes to tea. Dravid now gets into the act with his trademark flick-drive through midwicket for four. (Editor's note: Sehwag was in the 140's when his back started to bother him. Imagine what he did with a hurting back the rest of the way.)
246 for 1 in 43 overs. Sehwag in 147, Dravid on 7.
Sehwag has faced 125 balls for his 147 now. Since he took 100 balls for his 100, you know his scoring rate since then.
2:35am: Sehwag has adopted a Shiv Chanderpaul stance to protect his back which is hurting him very badly. Does not stop him from reverse sweeping. Would you believe it, they have a fielder deep for that shot now? Not only is Sangakkara anticipating Sehwag's shots he is adjusting for his novelty strokes, too! Dravid hits as sweet an inside-out drive as Vijay hit for a single. The medical staff gets ready to come on to treat Sehwag who takes the easy single on offer on the leg-side.
249 for 1 in 44 overs. Sehwag on 149, Dravid on 8.
2:38am: Seeing Sehwag limping, Murali comes back to add to his 10-0-63-0 figures. Last over before tea. Sehwag flicks to long-on for the 12th score of 150 of above in his career (out of 17 centuries). The world record is 19 (SRT) for a career. 150 in 130 balls. The man scores big, big centuries in a matter of factly way. Walks another single to long-on now as Murali is finding it hard to stop the runs with the spread out field. Dravid steps back and punches it past cover for a four. Murali is taking a beating here. He must be thanking his stars Sri Lanka only plays 3 Test series. Another ball outside the off-stump and Dravid cuts it to deep point for a four. That's tea and India has scored 168 runs in that session. Murali trudges off with 11-0-74-0 to his name. Ouch!
260 for 1 in 45 overs. Sehwag on 151, Dravid on 17. A short break now. I will be back in about 20 minutes.
3:03am: Sehwag starts off by jumping down and hitting inside out over cover for a four. Welcome back Herath. The next ball chipped to long-on for another single. Herath is bowling from over the wicket wide outside the leg stump to Sehwag.
266 for 1 in 46 overs. Sehwag on 1656, Dravid on 18.
3:07am: Welegedara gets the short end of the other straw and is picked to bowl. Starts off by letting Dravid glide to point for a single. Welegedara bowls a bouncer. The perfect ball to a batsman with a stiff back. Now he walks down the wicket and smashes it over point for a thumping four. And right on cue, for the first time in the series, Shastri unfurls the tracer bullet. Another bouncer, another duck. Good stuff from Welegedara. Two for the over, cautions the umpire. Content in the knowledge that there are no more bouncers coming, Sehwag moves forward and bludgeons the ball over the cover fence for a six. Phew!
278 for 1 in 47 overs. Sehwag on 166, Dravid in 19. 35 overs still left in the day.
3:13am: Herath almost yelps with joy seeing Dravid on strike. Keeps him quiet for the entire over and gives up only a single off the last ball. Dravi goes over gaaji now. One less ball (at least) for Sehwag to face, thinks Sangakkara.
3:17am: Welegedara continues to build on the Herath foundation, keeping Dravid quiet for 5 balls. Surely, the best strategy would be to give a single to Dravid. Let's see. Dravid drops it and sets off wanting a run and Sehwag ignores him as it was hit straight to a fielder and there was no run there. Sri Lanka's putative plan is thwarted!
3:20am: Sehwag thumps it to long-on for a single. Dravid plays inside out and gets Sehwag back on strike. What will Jatman do? Steps outside leg stump and simply chips it for another
284 for 1 in 50 overs. Sehwag on 169, Dravid on 22. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka this is not an ODI and India continues to bat past the 50 over mark. Sri Lankans are taking their own sweet time, probably figuring the fewer overs they bowl while Sehwag is there, the better it is. Not a bad idea. The worst thing that can happen is that the ICC will take away some pocket money from the captain. Surely he can afford it.
Tom Alter is in the house!
3:25am: Welegedara is bowling it far away from Viru, trying to get him to reach for it. Sehwag is not interested at all for the first three balls. The fourth is a very good yorker that is dug away and the fifth ball yields the only run of the over. Welegedara and Herath are on fire here! The last 24 balls have yielded only 7 singles. Something's gotta give.
3:28am: Sehwag shimmies down the wicket and drives Herath to long-on for a single. Dravid shows Vijay how to play the sweep shot and smashes it to the square-leg boundary.
290 for 1 in 52 overs. Sehwag on 171, Dravid on 26.
3:33am: Welegedara bowls to a 7-2 field and Sehwag walks across the stumps, exposing all three and flicks it to the midwicket fence. That first morning when Welegedara reduced India to 32 for 4 is like a distant, distant memory now. India trail by less than 100 runs, just 53 overs into the innings. Mind-boggling. The run rate is 5.58. In a Test match!
3:37am: Dravid cuts Herath past point to bring up India's 300. This is Dravid's other trademark shot (the first one being the drive-flick through midwicket). Cannot feed him there, Rangana. Dravid chunters away to 32 in 50 balls.
3:38am: Welegedara's day gets longer as Sehwag slams him through extra cover for four to start the over. Then takes a single and rests at the non-striker end.
308 for 1 in 55 overs. Sehwag on 182, Dravid on 33. Sri Lanka lobbies for a ball change and their request is granted. I bet SRT has already told the nightwatchman to pad up. Who will it be? Amit Mishra is not in the squad.
3:51am: Welegedara pulls up lame and is returning to the pavilion. Sri Lanka may be forced to go to Dilshan by accident now. I am telling you that move will work. No, Kuasekara comes in instead. Welegedara probaby wants to avoid scoring a century today. Sehwag is not batting fluently now. He is reaching for the balls and not connecting well. The back is certainly an issue. Still does not stop him from creaming a boundary to the point fence through the two deep fielders there. He repeats the feat on the leg-side, bisecting square-leg and midwicket. Into the 190's. Third ball is flicked to fine leg for another boundary. The next ball is inner-edged and Sehwag gets a Dhoni double to the square-leg umpire to reach 198. Will he hit a six to get to 200? No, he slog-drives over midwicket to get to it with a four. 18 runs in 5 balls to go from 184 to 202. WHAT A PLAYER!! His 6th double century in Tests. Another one hit at a strike rate of over 200.
200 in 168 balls, strike rate of over 120. India 330 for 1 in 57 overs. Sehwag on 202, Dravid on 35. Second-fastest 200 in Test history.
By the way, NO ONE has mentioned this on TV yet: another century partnership for Dravid, the 80th in Tests for the world record holder.
4:03am: Sangakkara turns to Murali. Dravid almost hits a boundary but Mathews saves three runs. Sehwag survives a very close shout for LBW.
4:06am: Sehwag reverse sweeps Herath for another boundary and then punches to long-off for another walk. Sehwag is on course to be the first man to get to three triple centuries.
Kapil Dev watches Sehwag and sees the man he thinks SRT can be.
342 for 1. Sehwag on 211, Dravid on 38.
4:12am: Sehwag goes inside-out for another four over cover and repeats it next ball to bring up the 350. By the way, Herath is bowling about 2 feet outside the leg-stump and Sehwag is taking a stance about a foot outside leg-stump.
Until the Kolkata Test of 2001, Sunil Gavaskar's 236* was like a millstone around an Indian batsman's neck. Once Laxman crossed that mark, it has ceased to worry the batsmen and no one even thinks about that any more. Sehwag himself has crossed it three times and is en route to doing it a fourth time.
4:18am: Sehwag dances down and hits Murali to the roof of the pavilion. The placement of fielders seems irrelevant to him now. Also, he is moving a little better than he was about 15 minutes ago. Maybe the back has loosened up a little.
360 for 1 in 62 overs. Sehwag on 228, Dravid on 39.
4:22am: Angelo Mathews is sighted, coming on to bowl. Has bowled just one over so far, surprisingly. He was the most economical and restrictive bowler in the previous Test. Sehwag content to play him out for a single...until the last ball, when a bouncer from Mathews is upper cut one bounce to third man for another four. 31 fours and 7 sixes for Jatman.
368 for 1 in 63 overs. Sehwag on 233, Dravid on 42. India motoring along at 5.84 runs an over. By the way, by himself Sehwag is motoring along at 3.7 runs per over. I am running out of adjectives.
17 overs still to go today. SMG admits that at about this point in time he probably would have been batting on 70-odd in the same number of balls. Ironically, I don't think he is joking.
4:36am: Sehwag plays two contrasting shots off Murali. A late, late cut for four and then a waltz down the wicket to play an agricultural hoick for a one bounce four over midwicket. Murali about to hit a century in the 16th over for him! And there it is. The last ball single takes Murali to 100 in exactly 16 overs. What a mauling he is receiving.
382 for 1 in 66 overs. Sehwag on 243, Dravid on 46. India trail by...(gulp)...10 runs.
50 singles for Sehwag. That is the understated but extremely important aspect of his batting.
4:40am: Sehwag greets Mathews by smashing a cover drive for four. Brutal shot. Mathews and Sangakkara are indulging in a long chat. Time-wasting tactics, I think. Strategic timeout to disrupt Sehwag's rhythm, thinks SMG.
The TV announcers inform us that Sehwag scored 98 runs in the post-lunch session and in this session, with 50 minutes to go, he has already scored 97 runs. In the morning session he scored just
389 for 1 in 67 overs. Sehwag on 248, Dravid on 46. India trail by just 4 runs. Another 45 minutes left in the day's play and India has already scored close to 400 runs. Adding the 27 runs Sri Lanka scored this morning, there have been 416 runs already today in 72 overs. Phew!
15 overs to go today and Sri Lanka will barely get 10 in is my guess. Sangakkara will be happy to pick up the fine for slow over rate in return for not letting Sehwag continue to plunder runs.
I have stated this in the past and it bears repeating. Sehwag has the best temperament of any Indian batsman I have seen. If SRT had even a fraction of his temperament he would have been nudging higher milestones today. Sehwag is relentless about collecting runs once he is set and he plays to a plan of his own, completely throwing the oppositions plans to the dust.
4:52: Sehwag reverse sweeps Murali to reach the fastest 250 in Test history (breaking his own record) with that four to third man. Wowza! The scores are level.
4:55am: Angelo Mathews pitches it short, Sehwag pushes it away to square-leg for another four. And it was a no-ball to boot. A quick single to mid-on takes India to 400. They scored 417 runs in a day in Kanpur just a few days ago and should overhaul it easily today. Dilshan pretends to misfield the last ball, hoping the duo would take a single to keep Sehwag off strike but they do not oblige him.
400 for 1 in 69 overs. Sehwag on 258, Dravid on 46. India lead by 7 runs.
5:00am: Sehwalk walks down and just chips it over Murali's head and gets a boundary straight back over the bowlers head. By the way, there are no close-in fielders of any sort around Sehwag. Prasanna Jayawardene must be a lonely man.
406 for 1 in 70 overs. Sehwag on 263, Dravid on 46. India lead by 13 runs.
5:06am: Russell Arnold says that in the days leading up to this Test he did not notice any of this aggressive batting in Sehwag's approach at the nets. Siva adds that Sehwag and Gary Kirsten have been spending a lot of time talking in the dressing room. I wonder what Gary could be telling Sehwag to do? Sehwag ends the over with a tired looking glide to the third man fence off Mathews.
412 for 1 in 71 overs Sehwag on 268, Dravid on 47. India lead by 19 runs.
5:09am: Sehwag jumps out to Murali, misses the ball and just barely edges it to third man for four. The man's got to be tired.
419 for 1 in 72 overs. Sehwag on 273, Dravid on 49. India has never scored so many runs in a single day's play (eclipsing the 417 scored in Kanpur in the previous Test) and they have done it in just 72 overs. India lead by 26 runs.
5:12am: Finally, Dilshan comes on to bowl. Dravid is one away from a 50 and he gets it with a simple flick to midwicket. First ball from Dilshan induces the edge from Sehwag and Mahela drops the catch. It hits him on the right hand before rolling away. I don't want to say I told you so, but I did so hours and hours ago when I beseeched Sangakkara to try out Dilshan to shake things up against Sehwag. The next ball he faces is hit off the leading edge. The 200 run partnership between the duo features exactly 50 runs from Dravid.
5:16am: Herath starts off with the perfect leg-spinning ball (off-spin for the left-arm bowler) as it lands in front of Dravid's feet and spins past the off stump. No harm done in the end. Sehwag defends and exchanges a big grin with Dravid. Dravid is still smiling during the mid-pitch between over discussion between the two.
432 for 1 in 74 overs. Sehwag on 277, Dravid on 55. India lead by 39 runs.
5:23am: Look! What do we have here?! A maiden for Herath. As you would have rightly guessed, he got to bowl to Dravid, who obliged him by defending every ball. Also, Sangakkara placed two close-in catchers, at short mid-off and short cover to trap the front foot punches. Playing for close of play, suggests Arnold.
5:25am: Sehwag is playing for the close of play in his own way, punching Dilshan off the backfoot, beating deep cover for a four. A single two balls later takes him past VVS Laxman's 281, an innings that spanned parts of three days. Sehwag has gone past him 3 times in his career now.
438 for 1 in 77 overs. Sehwag on 282, Dravid on 59. India lead by 45 runs. About 5 minutes to go for the close of play.
5:28am: Sehwag dances down and hits it one bounce to long-off for a risky single. Dravid takes two runs off the last ball, running hard even at the very end of the day. Sehwag has been on the field for every minute of the Test so far.
5:30am: Last over of the day coming up, for sure. Sehwag on strike to Murali. Sehwag hits it past the forward short-leg fielder and gets off strike. Surely, Dravid is going to play out this over and let Sehwag stay here till the morning, when he can come back refreshed and rested. Dravid is now portraying the role of the world's most proficient nightwatchman!
183 runs in this session for India in 34 overs. Murali ends the day with figures of 20-0-119-0. Sehwag remains not out on 284 (239 balls), Dravid on 62 (121 balls). India end the day at 443 for 1, a lead of 50 runs.
The two parnerships for India - 221 and 222*. Viru is also on the verge of another Test record - most runs in sixes and fours in a single innings. He already occupies 4 of the top 9 spots all-time.
Okay, I am tempted to sit down and figure out different ways of presenting how statistically astonishing this batsman is but it is getting to be a long night and I am sure my friends at CricInfo will have something for me by tonight. When they do, I shall link it for you. I shall go and catch a couple of hours of sleep now (if I can after that imperious batting display).
(Editor's note: From CricInfo comes an astounding stat that tells you everything you needed to know about how this Test series has progressed: Muttaiah Muralitharan has now bowled 69 consecutive overs without a maiden.)
No comments:
Post a Comment