The Hindu : Front Page : Sehwag joins elite band

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Saturday, Mar 29, 2008
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Sehwag joins elite band

Special Correspondent

— Photo: K. Pichumani

BLAZING AWAY: Virender Sehwag was in imperious form as he smashed an unbeaten 309 off 292 balls to help India score 468 for one on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. The Indian opener became the third batsman after Don Bradman and Brian Lara to run up 300-plus scores twice in Tests.

Chennai: Virender Sehwag made the first Test-match triple hundred on Indian soil at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.

The punishing batsman’s unbeaten 309 (292b, 41x4, 5x6) was the highlight as India, replying to South Africa’s 540, ended the third day of the first Future Cup Test at an imposing 468 for one on a batsman-friendly surface.

It was Sehwag’s second triple hundred in Tests. He scored a match-winning 309 in the Multan Test against Pakistan in 2004 and he equalled his own record for the highest score by an Indian batsman in the game’s longer version.

Sehwag joins Don Bradman and Brian Lara as the only batsmen with two 300-plus scores in Tests. The Indian is closing in on Lara’s world record 400 not out, the highest individual score in Tests.

On a hot and humid day, Sehwag essayed scintillating strokes. When he eased past the 300-run mark, it was the quickest Test triple century since the number of balls were recorded.

The openers laid a solid platform. Sehwag and Jaffer (73) put on 213 before Jaffer was caught at slip by Jacques Kallis off left-arm spinner Paul Harris. Then, Sehwag and Rahul Dravid (65 batting) strung together another big stand.

This is the first occasion in Tests when India has recorded successive double hundred partnerships for the first and second wickets.

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