Rose bowl bloom

Virender Sehwag, a refugee at the crease, struggled from the start. Seeking his seniors’ advice he decided to spend some time at the wicket, lost his patience and with it his wicket.

Sourav Ganguly, fresh from his knock against England at Lord’s, revelled in the situation and against an opposition off whom he has scored consecutive hundreds when they last met in the World Cup 2003.

With the Kenyan opening pair of Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo bowling a disciplined line, there was little scope for the Indian pair to hit out t early on.

VVS Laxman was a rock in the early part of the partnership, aware of the fact that he owed a big one to his team on the day. After being caught off a no-ball for 12, Laxman sensed it could be his day. He picked the singles unfailingly — his path marked clearly to avoid a repeat of the Oval fracas when he bumped into his skipper — when the shots were not on due to the damp wicket.

After 25 overs, the Indian score read a respectable, if not intimidating, 112-1 with Ganguly having crossed his 58th half-century in one-dayers and Laxman promising a big one. The big hits came once the team crossed the 150-run mark in the 35th over and Laxman made his first 50 since the Pakistan tour.

On that same tour Laxman had explained the art of batting, saying how the bat is merely an extension of the arm. At the Rose Bowl, he placed the ball with a finesse and regal grace few on the circuit can match.

Ganguly failed yet again to convert his fifty into a century when he was bowled for 90 looking to turn up the heat.

The 161-run partnership had laid the foundation for the remaining Indian batsmen to score in excess of 300 but the quick dismissals of VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh slowed the tempo down.

And that’s when the second crucial partnership of the Indian innings got underway.

Mohammad Kaif got cracking from ball one and pierced the field at will. Rahul Dravid,joined him in the act and sent the 16,000-odd spectators screaming their heads off and waving the Indian tri-colour with winds blustering in.

The duo added 77 runs in 41 balls and. India put together 91 runs in the last ten overs to set the trend — rather, followed what New Zwealand had done yesterday — for the tournament where the big hits would be in the slog overs, not the first 15 overs.

The dozen odd Kenyan flags tinged the Indian saffron and green during the lunch break hoping for a spirited performance from the team but when Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh struck double-blows in successive overs the chase was dead meat.