http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 vs England – 1st Test – Live Cricket Score and Match Update
All went India's way in the first two hours of the opening Test against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Huzefa-Mohammed-Patel-c63657 Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad, November 15, 2012.
As expected, the newly-laid Motera pitch looked considerably dry, prompting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 to have a bat first, and his under fire opening pair hardly put a foot wrong. To say that the pitch offered nothing to the English medium pacers was an understatement, but that too could not hide the fact that their patience ran out a bit too early.
While there remained no movement, the bowling lacked the discipline one needs to show on slow Indian tracks, especially against a quality player like Sehwag.
Having clearly stated that he and his http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 teammate remain the best opening pair in the lead-up to the Test, it was certainly a relief for the duo when that notion came true as early as the first session of a highly anticipated Test series. Sehwag scored his first boundary in the fifth over and managed 11 more, including a six, and hardly broke a sweat.
He took three in one over off http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566 was ruled out but his gentle pace was easily worked over by the Indian openers.
Sehwag glided a few boundaries through the vacant third-man region before showing his aggressive prowess by hitting three consecutive shots down the ground. All came of Bresnan, where fours through mid-off and mid-on were followed by the first maximum of the innings; an effortless short to the long-on boundary.
His innings allowed Gambhir the time to settle on a slow pitch. The left-hander was fortunate to get his first boundary and his contest with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GP-Swann-c1501 was intriguing to say the least, but he too held his own and was willing to give his partner the strike at every opportunity.
At the end of the first session, Gambhir had scored 37 off 103, while Sehwag had raced to 79 off 66. For England, it was a rude awakening of what to expect in the coming days.
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