Virender Sehwag smashed his way to a double century on Day 3 of the first Test against South Africa at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Friday. The Delhi opener's fourth double hundred in Tests guided India to 309 for 1 in 70 overs at tea.
Sehwag was unbeaten on an entertaining knock of 218 from just 200 deliveries that saw him pummel 34 boundaries and three sixes. Rahul Dravid was unbeaten on a rather slow 10 from 56 deliveries, having added 96 for the second wicket with Sehwag.
India still need another 32 runs to avoid the follow-on after South Africa posted a mammoth 540 in their first innings.
Morning session: (94 runs, 25 overs)
Resuming on 82 for no loss, India showed their intent as early as the first over when Wasim Jaffer pulled Makhaya Ntini through the square leg region for a boundary. A couple of deliveries later he was fortunate though, as his edge flew past the slip and gully region when he tried to play a shot through the covers.
Sehwag then thumped Ntini through the off-side in his next over, the 24th of the innings, to signal his presence and the sign of things to come. A double on the leg side off the final ball of the over brought up the 100-run stand in 24 overs.
It was a good start for the day, as the first 45 minutes brought up 52 runs in the first 10 overs as India progressed to 134 for no loss in 34 overs.
Jaffer brought up his 11th Test fifty with a single on the leg side off Paul Harris in the 34th over. He had problems getting the middle of the bat as quite a few edges flew past the slip region.
Harris resorted to a defensive line against Sehwag, bowling on his pads in a bid to restrict his cover drives. However, the dashing batsman, in the 90s, was quite content to play out the singles as he approached his century.
But with Kallis bowling from the other end, Sehwag finally found some room to unleash his strokes. A short of length delivery was dispatched ruthlessly through mid-wicket as he moved to 99. It also brought up the highest opening partnership between Sehwag and Jaffer, surpassing the 159 they put up against the West Indies at Gros Islet in 2006.
Sehwag brought up his hundred in his own flamboyant style, slamming Jacques Kallis over the mid-off field. It was his second century in as many matches, coming on the heels of the brilliant 159 he scored in Adelaide in January.
It was also his second century at Chepauk and 14th overall. It took him 160 deliveries to reach the landmark and included 15 boundaries and a six.
South Africa had no answer and the only way they tried to stop him was by bowling on the pads. Sehwag, meanwhile, was quite content just to pad away the deliveries with lunch break approaching.
At lunch on day three, India were comfortably placed on 176 without loss in 46 overs, having dominated the morning session.
Sehwag was unbeaten on 110, having smashed 16 boundaries and a six in 133 deliveries. Jaffer, on the other hand, scraped his way to 60 from 143 deliveries, inclusive of five boundaries and a six.
The Chennai heat combined with India's brilliant batting proved too hot to handle for the South African bowlers. Both Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini had nothing much to offer as Sehwag launched into them with a few cracking shots. Paul Harris did not make an impression either and one is sure that till a wicket falls, he will restrict himself to bowling a negative line.
Post-lunch session: (133 runs, 24 overs, 1 wicket)
Sehwag started the second session with a boundary through fine leg off Kallis. The visitors, it seemed, had given up all hopes of getting him out as they removed all slips and were hoping he would commit a mistake.
In the 51st over, he gave himself room and once again smashed Harris through the cover region. In the next over, he creamed Steyn with ease through the off-side to bring up India's 200. It was the eighth instance of Indian openers putting on 200 runs or more for the first wicket and, amazingly, Sehwag was involved in four of those partnerships.
Not surprisingly, with news of Sehwag taking on the bowlers spreading, the empty seats at the Chepauk rapidly got occupied.
It was Harris who gave South Africa its first success. He got the wicket of Jaffer for 73. The India opener tried to play a drive through the off-side but got an edge which was taken by Kallis at first slip.
Jaffer, who hit six boundaries and a six in his 166-ball knock, added 213 runs for the opening wicket in 53 overs to register the best opening partnership at this venue.
The first wicket slowed down India's progress, as new batsman Rahul Dravid struggled struggling to get a start. He and Sehwag scored a painstaking 14 runs in six overs before the latter broke the shackles with two consecutive boundaries off Morne Morkel.
The first of those boundaries, a cracking drive through the off-side, also brought up his 150 in 171 deliveries. It included 23 fours and a six.
In the same over, Sehwag creamed his third boundary through the covers to move to 159 and register his highest score at the venue. His previous best score was the 155 he made against Australia in 2004-05.
Sehwag crashed Ntini straight down the ground to move to 173 and add another record to his name. He became the highest individual scorer against South Africa, going past Sachin Tendulkar's 169 at Cape Town in 1996-97.
Such was Sehwag's dominance in the middle that Dravid could score just seven in the 50-run partnership between the two batsmen. Slowly, but steadily, Dravid though got to grips with the pitch, thereby adding to South Africa's task woes.
With tea time fast approaching, Sehwag stepped up the pace to get to a double century before the break. The hapless Harris was a mere spectator as Sehwag unleashed his wide array of strokes to hit three consecutive boundaries and race into the 190s.
He lofted Ntini high into the stands at square leg in the 168th over to race to 199. The crowd rose in unison to salute the dashing opener as he brought up his fourth Test double with a flick to midwicket that fetched him three runs.
It took him just 194 deliveries to race to the mark and included 32 boundaries and two sixes. It is also the third fastest double century in Test history after Nathan Astle's (153 deliveries against England at Christchurch in 2001-02) and his 182 against Pakistan at Lahore in 2005-06.
He now joins Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar with four double centuries, while Dravid heads the list for Indian batsmen with five double tons.
In an amazing display of attacking batting, Sehwag smashed 23 runs in just eight deliveries to race from 174 to the 200-run mark. Such was his domination that South Africa could just hope and pray as every trick they tried had backfired.
There was no stopping Sehwag even after the double century. He showed scant respect to Ntini as he carted the pacer over the mid-on fence for his third six. He followed it up with a delightful boundary through the point region to bring up India's 300 in the 70th over. He then ended the session just as he had started it -- with a boundary -- as a few South African sprinted back to the comfort of the dressing room unable to bear his brutal attack in the unforgiving Chennai heat.
At tea on the third day, India reached 309 for 1 in 70 overs. Sehwag was unbeaten on a blazing 218 from just deliveries, inclusive of 34 boundaries and three sixes, while Dravid seemed in the opposite mode as he crawled to 10 from 56 balls.
Sehwag scored 108 runs of the 133 that India scored between lunch and tea in 24 overs. Interestingly, Dravid contributed just 10 in the 96-run second wicket stand.
It remains to be seen whether he can now bring up his triple century before the close of play. Right now, there is nothing in South Africa's bowling attack that can stop Sehwag from another blazing session.
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