Sehwag blasts Kiwis apart,smashes 150

The Delhi batsman did not let the fact that he had scored a century in good time just after the lunch break,stand in his way of getting a really big score.

He continued his onslaught without let and powered to a very well-deserved 150 off just 169 deliveries 22 fours and a six,causing the India score to log a daunting 239/1 in just 60.3 overs.

It took the guile of the Kiwi captain Vettori to finally dismiss the tired Sehwag in the 75th over. Sehwag was sent back to the pavilion for a strokefull 173,scored of 199 deliveries,studded with 24 fours and a lone six.

Battling cramps and dehydration,the batsman was unable to play shots the way he wanted,despite having the assistance of a runner.

India had scored 2/297 at that time.

On scoring century

Virender Sehwag,the aptly nicknamed Nawab of Najafgarh,is looking to give his countrymen a fine reason to start celebrating Diwali early and in style.

And he did,by smashing a century in quick time in the first Test against New Zealand 8211; at a run-a-ball pace.

In the first Test match against New Zealand the explosive batsman threatened to tear the bowling apart and score a century in the first session itself something that just four batsmen have been able to do in the history of cricket.

However,Sehwag slowed down as lunch beckoned and that has ensured that this particular footnote in cricketing history eludes him. But considering the carefree attitude to cricket that he espouses,he must have said to himself,There is always another chance.

The Motera pitch is flat and docile at the moment and all Indian cricket players,leave alone Sehwag,awaited a mouth-watering treat. Considering that skipper MS Dhoni won the toss,batsmen and spinners,both treated themselves to high-fives.

However,it needed application at the beginning of the Test to give India the momentum and that is exactly what Sehwag8217;s job was and he carried it out exceptionally well except when he almost got himself run out early in his innings.

That blip apart,he has torn into the Kiwi attack and beaten it into submission and surely,the visitors8217; batsmen8217;s morale is wilting early,especially as most of them were at the receiving end of a thrashing at the hands of Bangladesh in ODIs just weeks before the India tour.

The thing that makes Sehwag8217;s innings stand out his nonchalance. He has been smiling and laughing throughout his knock,as he summarily dispatched ball after ball across the boundary. Even his near-dismissals failed to dent his mood.

In his post-lunch score of 98,he has smashed as many as 16 fours,while the blip against the sixers was something of a surprise.

He went on to get his century in characteristic style by slamming Daniel Vettori,the Kiwi skipper,straight down the ground for a four.

In effect,this was the best start that India could have asked for at the beginning of the Test match series as New Zealand have been put on the defensive and climbing out of a negative mindset is something that would be a huge challenge for even first-rate teams like Australia,England and South Africa.