Proteas pull it back after Sehwag-Sachin special

Once again, the last session of the day sprung a string of surprises. India, who were cruising along at 331 for two, finished day-two with 342 for 5.

Virender Sehwag demoralized all Proteas bowlers with his authoritative 165-run innings off 174 balls.

When Virender Sehwag (165) and Sachin Tendulkar (106) looked like they’d bat South Africa out of the match with a mammoth double-ton partnership, the visitors struck back to dismiss three Indian wickets in the last 45 minutes of day’s play.
JP Duminy started it all by getting rid of the dangerous Sehwag, who holed out at extra-cover, playing a casual shot. Tendulkar soon followed him back into the hut by playing a drive away from his body and providing a simple catch to Jacques Kallis at first slip off Paul Harris.
Dale Steyn came in his final spell of the day and got the reverse-swing going. S Badrinath never looked comfortable against the Proteas pacer spearhead and he was finally done in by an unplayable late in-swinger.
But what preceded the mini-collapse was absolutely magical. With India at 82 for 2 after dismissing South Africa for 296, batting for the hosts were the only two men who showed some fight in the first Test as their team was walloped by the visitors by an innings. And together, they produced something truly special to bring India right back into the series. Their partnership of 249 runs was a treat to watch.
The dominating partner of the stand was Sehwag though he was lucky to be dropped twice. JP Duminy spilled him at first slip on 47 and AB de Villiers missed an easy stumping chance on 129. Result: Sehwag raced his way to a sizzling 165, which included 23 boundaries and 2 sixes.
On his way to building his 19th Test century, Sehwag destroyed the morale of Proteas bowlers and the skipper’s game-plan. He made his intentions clear with the very first delivery he faced – a swing and a miss off Morne Morkel. That set the tone for things to come.
In Steyn’s next over, Sehwag clobbered him for three boundaries with a blinding slash over the point fielder, a delicate flick and a superbly timed square-cut.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a sublime 47th Test ton to bring up a magical 249-run partnership with Virender Sehwag.

Next in line was Morkel. A couple of fierce drives into the cover fence and a backfoot smack over the gully region were enough to disturb the rhythm of the young fast bowler.
After demoralizing Steyn and Morkel, Sehwag cornered Wayne Parnell. He welcomed the youngster with a cracking drive through extra-cover and a streaky six over the backward-point boundary.
Sehwag kept going even as India lost Gautam Gambhir (25) and Murali Vijay (7) in quick succession just before lunch. While Gambhir was stranded in the middle of the pitch after a mix-up with Sehwag, Vijay was sucked into a drive by Morkel and perished into the hands of AB de Villiers behind the wickets.
Dale Steyn probed Tendulkar with a nagging off-stump line. An interesting battle of patience and wits ensued between the top ranked Test bowler and the greatest batsman in the world. It was Tendulkar’s composure versus Steyn’s aggression and the master proved too good for the pacer.
While the maestro was happy to play off Steyn safely, he pulled out some gems from his repertoire against the other bowlers. The fluent cover-drives and square-cuts were executed with utmost elegance to bring up his 12 boundaries during his innings.
The Indian run-machine continued his prolific season by notching up fifth century in his last seven Tests. With his 47th Test hundred, Tendulkar has now registered four tons in as many Tests.
At the other end of the wicket, a certain Mr. Sehwag was playing a game of his own. After taking off-spinner Paul Harris to cleaners with a six down the long-on fence and a slog-sweep into the mid-wicket boundary, he took the attack on to Morne Morkel. Two cracking hits to the point boundary despite two men patrolling the fence did little good to the young pacer’s confidence.
When on 95, Sehwag wanted to get to his three-figure mark in his customary fashion – with a six. He tried launching Harris into the long-on stands but missed. Tendulkar walked down the pitch, had a word with his partner and instilled some sanity. Next ball was duly defended. Harris sensed the desperation and pitched it straight and flat. After a very brief period of anxiety, the Nawab of Najafgarh brought up his 19th Test century by square cutting Parnell for four.