By Our Correspondent
Kolkata, 15/02/2010
The Sehwag storm struck South Africa with full force and pretty much blew everything in its way to a 13th 150-plus score. Amid the mayhem, it was easy to forget the cool, pleasant breeze that Sachin Tendulkar's 92nd international century was - his fourth in four Tests. For the third wicket they added 249 runs, kept South Africa wicketless for 57.4 overs, but once the two quietened, South Africa struck back with three quick wickets to restore a semblance of a contest in the match. Sehwag rattled them with a vicious assault on the new ball, put behind him the Gautam Gambhir run-out and, after a brief quiet, punished them some more. His 87-ball hundred would have been even faster but for that lull of 10 off 21 balls. Tendulkar enjoyed the inconspicuousness Sehwag's strike-rate brought, kept scoring at an even pace and, unlike Sehwag, didn't give South Africa a single chance. Two critical moments in the first session determined the flow of the game. Sehwag - 43 off 21 then - had the fastest Test fifty and a few other records in sight when he ran Gambhir out, and he chastised himself by playing disciplined cricket for a while. Around the same time Morne Morkel indulged in some reverse-rattling, took out M Vijay, troubled Sehwag with accurate bouncers, produced an edge only to see JP Duminy - at first slip because of the finger injury to Graeme Smith - drop him on 47. Sehwag could have gone at an even more frenetic rate but for the run-out. South Africa could have been in control had Sehwag fallen then.
Sehwag's onslaught started when Dale Steyn failed to get any swing. Somehow the ball didn't come out right, the seam wobbled, and Nagpur was a distant memory. And when there is no swing, his pace is Steyn's biggest enemy. The faster they came the faster they went. Nor did he get the bounce of Morkel, which meant that when Steyn went for the ribs, Sehwag could easily flick it past midwicket. The storm started with that gentle little flick and then came three boundaries in three balls in the third over: placed over point, whipped to square leg, and slashed past point. Morkel got the treatment in his third over: three boundaries through the off side, one off a 152.6kmph delivery. Wayne Parnell replaced Morkel immediately, and immediately he was carved for a four and a six into the rubble of a stand under reconstruction.