How centurion Sehwag was kept in check by his Delhi daredevils teammate Daniel Vettori
How centurion Sehwag was kept in check by his Delhi daredevils teammate Daniel Vettori
Virender Sehwag broke opposition hearts yet again. At Motera on Day One of the opening Test against New Zealand, he helped himself to yet another big tonu00a0-- 173.
However, to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori goes to the credit of being the bowler Sehwag respected the most yesterday. That Vettori is the Indian opener's Delhi Daredevils teammate in the Indian Premier League is beside the point.
It was fitting in a way that the left-arm tweaker got rid of his team's No 1 enemy during the last hour of play.
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| Daniel Vettori. Right: Virender Sehwag attacks during Day One of the Motera Test against
New Zealand yesterday. pics/afp |
Sehwag played down the wrong line to an arm ball from Vettori, who rattled the furniture. The lazy stroke almost indicated that he was willing to be dismissed only by Vettori.
'The best'Last year, Sehwag rated the Kiwi as the best spinner in the world, a sentiment that was echoed yesterday too. Vettori's figures of 28-3-69-1 don't do justice to the craft he displayed as he beat Sehwag's blade on several occasions. Vettori's spin partnersu00a0-- Jeetan Patel (0-79) and Kane Williamson (0-31) - couldn't sustain the pressure as the hosts finished the day's play at a commanding position of 329-3.
There was a feeling that only Sehwag and Vettori turned up on the day, besides some anxious fans hoping to get a glimpse of Sachin Tendulkar, due to the possibility of his 50th Test century.
Without taking anything away from Rahul Dravid's composed knock of 104, it was an otherwise boring day of Test cricket. Dravid scored just 17 runs from his first 100 balls, before upping the ante to score 87 from the next 127 balls.
The 37-year old struggled to middle the ball, nearly dragging on a few balls while playing the cut shot to spinners. However, he grew in confidence in the final session, and went on to register his 30th Test century. Anybody who saw Sehwag's gems at Galle, Mumbai and Lahore would concede that this, his 14 th knock of 150 plus, doesn't rank among his finest.
He survived two genuine dropped catches, played and missed at many balls, and wasn't at his belligerent best. In fact, Sehwag went through 31 balls without scoring a boundary - a no-no in Sehwag's book. Yet, he notched up 24 boundaries and a six.
After the lunch interval, Vettori kept Sehwag on his toes as an anxious Motera crowd awaited yet another century from Sehwag's bladeu00a0-- his first at the ground. Sehwag scored only 12 runs from 26 balls after the interval - until he reached 99. Vettori brought in all his fieldsmen and enticed him to step down the track, and he did, in customary fashion, to reach his 22nd Test century.
Two lives>> Sehwag was dropped on 144 by Jeetan Patel (caught and bowled)
>> Dropped on 155 by 12th man Martin Guptill at midwicket
