Plays of the day: India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test match, day two
At the end of the second day of the third Test match between India and Sri Lanka, the game seemed to be evenly poised, with the Sri Lankans having their noses slightly in front thanks to the fact that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 will be batting last in the game.
Sehwag smashes 1000th boundary
Whatever the format of the game, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 is known to take the game away from the opposition. The reason behind this is his ability to smash the ball to the fence at an alarming rate. So, when he steered the Sri Lankan bowler to the fence on the off-side between the sweeper and the third-man boundary, it was no surprise that he had got to his 1000th boundary in Test match cricket. What is amazing is that he has 7000 runs in Test cricket and 4000 of these have now come in boundaries, making him one of the most aggressive batsmen as well – even statistically speaking.
...and gets to 7000 in Tests:
Speaking of 7000, this was the day when he got to his 7000 runs in Test match cricket. He got to his 7000 in 134 innings, which was three innings more than the least number of innings needed to get there. The record for the same is held by Walter Hammond of England who got there in 131, while Sehwag overtook Sachin Tendulkar (136 innings), Sir Garfield Sobers and Kumar Sangakkara (both 138 innings).
All those players sit a ways back from the great Sir Don Bradman who ended his career with 6996 runs, that had taken 80 innings coming.
Ojha gets his best in Tests:
His career may only be five Test matches old, but breaking your previous best is always something that any player relishes. Pragyan Ojha had one of those days when he scalped his fourth wicket of the innings to get to his best bowling analysis in Tests, of 4/115, breaking his previous best of 3/101. What was good about his bowling was that he got the turn from the track and deserved every one of the wicket, against a side which is arguably the best at the spin bowling aspect of cricket
Samaraweera piles on the runs (in the sub-continent):
There are some players who make a killing out of batting in the sub-continent, and Thilan Samaraweera belongs to that category. Today, he slammed his 12th century in Test match cricket, and the unbelievable part of the record is that 11 out of the 12 have come in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. It was a timely innings, without which the Sri Lankan side may have capitulated to at least a 100 runs less.
As for Samaraweera’s, he has played in 60 Test matches now, and of those, he has an average of 64 at home. His average in the sub-continent is also at 60, but where he causes a few headaches to the selectors is the batting away from the sub-continent. In the 12 Tests that Samaweera has played away from the sub-continent, he averages almost half of his average in the sub-continent – a meagre 31.
For now though, the Lankans will be more than happy to have him around.
Dravid wakes up and then gets out:
Throughout his illustrious career, if there is one thing that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid has been accused of, it is his inability to rush up the scoring. In this series as well, till before this innings, Dravid had score 65 runs off 203 deliveries, that meant that after a good, quick start that Sehwag would invariably provide, Dravid would end up slowing the momentum for his side.
Today was an exceptional day as he started out with five boundaries off the first 25 balls, and then got out off the 26th. Now it is time for him to score quickly and to score well.
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