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 Sehwag's ton gives India the edge - Scorecard
 Chennai, Oct 15: Virender Sehwag marked his return to form with a belligerent century as India rode on their luck to gain a vital first innings lead in the second cricket Test against Australia here today. The 25-year-old Sehwag, under enormous pressure to deliver after a string of failures, cracked his seventh Test century with a knock of 155 as the hosts put themselves in a comfortable position by taking a lead of 56 runs by the end of the second day's play.
Sehwag accounted for more than half the runs scored by the Indians on a bouncy track at the M A Chidambaram stadium as the home team reached 291 for six in their first innings on an eventful day which also saw Shane Warne breaking his spin rival Muttiah Muralitharan's world record of highest Test wickets. Mohammad Kaif (34) and Parthiv Patel (27) were at the crease at stumps and the home team's quest for a series levelling victory could hinge on the contribution of the late order batsmen.
The normally agile Australians were guilty of dropping as many as four catches to let the hosts off the hook. After losing four middle order wickets for 55 runs, Kaif and Patel stemmed the slide by batting cautiously and putting on an unfinished 58-run seventh wicket partnership. Kaif gave a good account of himself on Test recall after three years while Patel once again proved to be a thorn in the opposition's skin with his cheeky innings.
Overall, the Indians showed more application and better planning in their batting than they did at Bangalore. No one personified the new found fighting spirit of the team more than Sehwag who was solid in defence and destructive in attack. His knock came off 221 balls during 356-minute stay at the wicket and included 21 fours. With a cloud cover adding to the humidity, the Aussies had a tough day at office although they did manage to peg back India to some extent.
Michael Kasprowicz showed yet again his mastery of the craft of bowling with old ball while Jason Gillespie made the second new ball almost unplayable. Warne returned figures of 3-95 but the bowler would concede that Sehwag enjoyed the upper hand in their duel. The visitors were on the defensive for most part but it was their catching which was the biggest let down. Skipper Sourav Ganguly (9) got two 'lives' when he was caught off a no ball by Kasprowicz and then Gilchrist dropped a low catch off the same bowler but he failed to make most of those.
Later, a Kaif edge went abegging in the slip cordon, the bowler to suffer being Warne, but most punishing was the reprieve Warne gave to Patel towards the end of the day when Gillespie was bowling his heart out to break the partnership. The day undoubtedly belonged to Sehwag whose knock swung the momentum in India's favour. He showed great deal of concentration as India made a cautious start in the morning. He began to play his shots after reaching the 50-run mark but he needed the blessings of Lady Luck to regain his destructive form.
A miscued drive off Warne fell in no man's land and a top edge off Glenn McGrath fell just short of Simon Katich at cover. And as he went after Darren Lehmann after crossing the three-figure mark, he missed a reverse sweep and Gilchrist took a tumbling catch. Umpire David Shepherd turned down the appeal and Sehwag pointed to his left arm but TV replays showed a very faint touch off the glove. Resuming at 28 for one, India made a sedate but determined start with Sehwag and Irfan Pathan keen to see off the opening spell of McGrath and Jason Gillespie.
The first half hour saw only six runs being added to the total before the batsmen went after Warne. The leg spinner dismissed Pathan (14) for his 533rd Test scalp but that was all he had to show for the day. Pathan, who had cracked his maiden half century in the Bangalore Test, played his nightwatchman role to perfection before he edged Warne to Matthew Hayden at first slip. The dismissal saw the leg spinner move past Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (532) in the highest wicket-takers' list.
But Sehwag at the other end was solid in his defence and meddled the ball well and what unveiled was a riveting contest between the world record holder and India's first triple centurion. Sehwag emerged victor as he swept Warne with precision through square leg twice in an over. He reached his hundred with a cover drive off Lehmann, his 15th boundary, off 147 balls. Sehwag then shifted gears with an inside out shot off the left-arm spinner before whacking him to midwicket twice in the next over.
Rahul Dravid (26) was a calmer influence at the other end until he played on to his stumps off Kasprowicz. Then followed a brief collapse when Ganguly was caught behind and V V S Laxman was undone by a Gillespie delivery that kept low. Sehwag tried to hit out of trouble but his pull off Warne found Clarke in the deep for the 23-year-old's first Test catch. Four wickets had fallen for 55 runs as India slumped to 233 for six. They were still two runs behind when Patel joined Kaif. The two, however, prevented further damage as they guarded the fort for more than an hour and helped India go into the third day with a psychological advantage. (Our Correspondent)
Published: Friday, October 15, 2004
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