The Hindu : Easy day at the office for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 15, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Easy day at the office for India

By G. Viswanath

Virender Sehwag in full flow. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

HOBART, JAN. 14. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar have hit it off at the top of the Indian batting order and given hard times to rival bowling combinations. For the second match in a row in the VB Series tournament they worked up a three-figure opening stand (130) that provided solidity and presented a touch of class on a windy Wednesday at the Bellerive Oval.

Without starting the proceedings in a whirlwind fashion, India's opening pair showed plenty of common sense, outclassed their rival and led their team to a resounding win over Zimbabwe by seven wickets as Sourav Ganguly's team pocketed six points.

After Heath Streak and Sean Ervine combined to put up a rescue act, batting efficiently for almost an hour, India's opening pair made a conscious effort to be in full control of the rival bowling. Now Sehwag and Tendulkar have contributed 232 runs in two innings against a variety of bowlers.

Australian spectators have been spellbound by Sehwag's flair and repertoire of strokes. Today, there was a palpable change in the way Sehwag approached his innings. With the task of achieving a moderate target of 209 on a featherbed of a pitch, he cut out all the frills initially. He even played the ball late and close to his body and with his head down and was willing to treat the ball on its merits.

It is not Sehwag's style to leave balls outside the off-stump untouched. He reverted to his adventurous ways after defending against Streak and Douglas Hondo with the full face of the bat for seven overs. Tendulkar himself was cautious before hitting a flurry of boundary shots.

A thumping drive on the front foot through covers against Andy Blignaut was perhaps his best shot because none of the Zimbabwe fielders moved an inch from their position on the off side, though a backfoot punch through covers off Streak also caught the eye.

Once he was sure about the behaviour of the pitch that was flat, but also slow, and the quality of the opposing bowling, Sehwag exhibited a range of shots. He had been beaten by a delivery from Streak that bounced over the stumps, but soon he played a flick over mid-on, a forceful shot off the backfoot to the cover fence and a couple of pull shots. When he was on 27, Tatenda Taibu tried to catch a nick but in vain.

Sehwag (man of the match) doesn't leave the scene without executing a few unorthodox shots. There was one such shot off Ervine which he picked from outside the off stump and put it past wide of mid-on. But the five big boundaries he hit were clean. Having put the fate of the match beyond doubt and in India's favour and after smashing left-arm spinner Raymond Price for two sixes, Sehwag's dismissal at 90 came as an anti-climax. Skipper Ganguly took charge of the proceedings thereafter and India romped home to pick up a bonus point.

"I was disappointed I did not finish off with a century. I hit the ball with the breeze and I am happy with my form. I hope to continue doing well in the tournament,'' said Sehwag.

This was a match in which Zimbabwe failed in all departments. A combination of factors — bowling to the field and smart work by men inside the circle — prevented the Zimbabwe batsmen from making the most of it after electing to bat.

India's fielding was not flawless, but Yuvraj Singh and Hemang Badani were outstanding. Hardly a single shot went past Yuvraj at backward point. There was not a boundary shot on the on side until Ervine joined Streak and forged a partnership of 93 runs in 72 balls. Streak batted sensibly, but the main feature of this stand were the powerful clearances by Ervine off Kumble and Agarkar. Kumble's first spell of eight overs in which he bowled several googlies and bowled Mark Vermeulen neck and crop, cost him only 19 runs, but Ervine messed it up in the end.

Zimbabwe never recovered from the first setback of the day when Sibanda sacrificed his wicket, seeing senior player Stuart Carlisle darting towards his end. It was a line decision that was referred to the third umpire. Yuvraj Singh's diving stop at point and throw to Agarkar at the bowler's end was the first of the fielding highlights.

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