With foot-soldiers for company, Viru rattles the sabre

With 174 runs needed with five wickets remaining, Sehwag stands between Tamil Nadu and victory. The large number of spectators present at the Kotla, who were greatly disappointed by Sehwag’s failure in the first innings, were amply rewarded today by his authoritative strokeplay that often left the fielders in a daze. Unfazed by the inconsitent bounce on the fourth-day wicket, Sehwag drove, cut and pulled with ease even as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. He treated the Tamil Nadu bowlers with disdain, taking 14 runs each off skipper Suresh and offie Dhandapani. In fact, he did not spare the other bowlers, hitting them at will. His onslaught was so severe that he needed only 108 balls to compile his knock.

Sehwag’s unbeaten knock overshadowed two useful knocks by Tamil Nadu southpaws Ramesh (55:8×4,194m) and Sharath (75 n.o: 8×4,277m) earlier in the day that helped the visitors reach 261 in their second essay. Despite taking a knock on his left-hand thumb, Sharath put up a brave front and reached 5,000-run milestone in the national championships since making his debut in 1991-92. Medium pacer Narender Singh Negi was the pick of the Delhi bowlers, claiming 3/41 while Bhandari and Sarandeep chipped in with two apiece.

With a minimum of 128 overs (38 of them today) in which to get the 333 runs for victory, the home team made a false start. Gambhir fell into the trap laid for him, substitute Badrinath taking a brilliant diving catch at square-leg. Aakash Chopra offered a simple catch to Badani at point while Manhas last just two deliveries before edging an inswinger into the keeper’s gloves.

Varun Kumar, dropped at 15 by Sriram at point off Dhandapani, fell after adding eight runs, cutting Dhandapani on to his stumps. Skipper Dahiya drove left-arm Vidyut straight into extra-cover.

With Negi for company at close of play on the penultimate day and only the bowlers to come tomorrow, Delhi’s hopes of upstaging Tamil Nadu depend largely on Sehwag as the hosts chase the remaining 174 runs. One can look forward to another entertaining session in the morning. It will be Sehwag vs the Tamil Nadu bowlers.