Sehwag slams ton to put India in sound position

Thu, Nov 04 10 03:06 PM

Ahmedabad, Nov 4 (PTI) Virender Sehwag slammed his 22nd century in his 82nd match to place India in a sound position on the first day of the opening Test of the best-of-three series against visitors New Zealand at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera here today. The Delhi daredevil put the thin visiting team bowling attack to the sword in racing to his three-figure knock as the home team, opting to bat first on winning the toss, rattled up a score of 243 for one wicket at tea. Sehwag was on 152 which was embellished with a six off debutant Kane Williamson and 22 fours that came off 172 balls, while an extra-cautious Rahul Dravid was on 61 in 188 minutes with nine fours. It was his 60th half-century in his 145th match. The duo, who came together at the fall of opener Gautam Gambhir''s wicket just before lunch, remained un-separated at the end of the second session, having put on 183 runs for the second wicket with Sehwag doing the bulk of scoring. The pair added 116 runs in the second session in 32 overs. The Kiwis attack looked clueless in stopping the rampaging Sehwag who was unbeaten on 87 in a lunchtime score of 127 for one in 30 overs before reaching his landmark in 111 balls with 17 fours, half an hour into the post-lunch period of play. It was the Delhi dasher''s sixth century, and first here, in just over a 12-month period and 13 Tests during which he and his idol Sachin Tendulkar have been the bulwarks of the Indian batting. It was also Sehwag''s second ton against the Kiwis. Sehwag, who came into the match with five 100-plus and one 200-plus scores, aside from five other 50-plus knocks that also included a 99, was kept quiet for some time after lunch by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and debutant pace bowler Hamish Bennett. But the opener decided to take the bull by its horns after inching his way to the hundred with singles when he stepped out to cart the accurate left-arm spin of Vettori for two fours to surge to his hundred, a lofted drive and another all-along the ground to the straight field doing the work. Dravid, at the other end, was scratchy and intent to occupy the crease after a string of low scores coming into the game. The first hour after lunch produced only 47 runs in 16 overs before Sehwag went on the offensive again after his breezy run gathering in the morning. .

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