Sehwag's record 219 gives India series (Bulletin)

Riding on Virender Sehwag’s scorching 219, India secured an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five match series against West Indies. The double ton from their captain blasted India to 418 and West Indies just about crossed the half-way mark of the chase, all-out for 265, thereby giving the hosts victory by 153 runs.

It was a day that completely belonged to Virender Sehwag. From the point he flicked first ball of the second over from Ravi Rampaul for a boundary, Sehwag simply dominated. When substitute Anthony Martin caught him at long-off in the 47th over, he had raked up the highest individual score ever in ODIs, a monumental 219, thus becoming only the second man after teammate Sachin Tendulkar to score a double century in the format.

Sachin, before today’s game was the lone batsman to reach the magical landmark when he had remained not out on exactly 200 against South Africa at Gwalior. However, Sehwag achieved the same only in the 44th over and by the time he walked back, his score had swelled to 219. The stand-in Indian captain came into the match after a string of low scores, his last century being the 175 against Bangladesh in World Cup.

His explosive stint at Indore was punctuated by 25 boundaries and seven massive sixes that kept the buzz going in a packed Holkar Stadium. While the spectators got their money’s worth, the hapless West Indian bowlers were at the receiving end. All of them had figures they would want to forget as soon as possible.

On an absolute belter, India asked West Indies to bowl first. In place of Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir partnered Sehwag in a bid to get some runs at the top as the duo had struggled for runs in the series thus far. But, the two Delhi boys returned to form in style, adding 176 for the first wicket.

The clip off Rampaul that got Sehwag going was followed by a trademark upper-cut off Roach that sailed into crowd. Gambhir got into the act with consecutive boundaries off Roach, but was lucky as Andre Russell dropped a catch off his own bowling in the seventh over. After ten mandatory powerplay overs, India had moved to 63.

Even though the start was not a blistering one by Sehwag’s standards, Indian innings picked pace when the seamers were replaced. Sehwag welcomed Sunil Narine into the attack by lofting him effortlessly over long-off. Darren Sammy was also treated with the same disdain and another swish off Narine took Sehwag past fifty. Two balls later, Gambhir also raised his bat as India had crossed three figures well before the bowling powerplay. With Sehwag and Gambhir both hitting their straps, runs came mostly in boundaries as India’s score galloped past 150 in no time.

In the 23rd over, Sehwag reached his fifteenth ODI century with a ferocious cut that kissed fingertips of the leaping point fielder before crashing into the boundary hoardings. However, the celebrations were cut short after he called Gambhir for a non-existent single- the ensuing run-out on a direct hit from Marlon Samuels saw Gambhir depart for run-a-ball 67.

This error in judgment made Sehwag even more determined to push India to a formidable score. With Suresh Raina settling down nicely, Sehwag continued in the same attacking vein, punishing the bad deliveries and even dispatching the good ones into the boisterous crowd.

When Sehwag reached his 150 on his 112th delivery, India’s score was looking ominous. At 170, Sehwag got another reprieve and the culprit was Darren Sammy. An attempted inside-out shot off Rampaul ballooned in the air as Sammy set himself up for the catch at extra cover but the Windies skipper could not hold on to a simple chance, thereby allowing his counterpart an to have go at Sachin’s highest score.

Meanwhile, Raina got to his half-century but the only thing that mattered at that point was whether Sehwag could do it. And, it was another Sehwagesque shot that took him past 200, a ferocious cut that sped into the fence. By the time, he was out for 219, India was on course for a 400 plus total. Eventually, the hosts ended with 418.

West Indies, chasing a huge 419, needed Sehwag’s clone to keep the series alive. Although, they didn’t have one like him with the bat but they had people who could at least match his suspect running between the wickets. Kieron Powell ran himself out only in the second over.

Although, the other opener, Lendl Simmons kept West Indies in the hunt, at least theoretically, with few big hits but he was caught behind off Ravindra Jadeja for 36. With him evaporated all theories of West Indies crossing the line at Indore.

With the game decided in India’s favour, debutant legspinner Rahul Sharma started his international career with three scalps in his first three overs to knock the stuffing out of the West Indies batting as they collapsed to 100 for five.

West Indies, struggling to bat out their quota of fifty overs, had no choice but to occupy the crease. Dinesh Ramdin did that job well, scoring 96 but his 64-run partnership with last man Sunil Narine just delayed the inevitable.