Lovely knock, Sehwag

Test Cricket is a game of partnerships. More about opening partnerships on the first day for team winning the toss and opting to bat. And the way Sehwag and Gambhir have built a solid platform for india, deserves the highest praise. Sehwag, or once, went by the need of the hour. After his early lucky escape, the dashing opener carefully played back to form. And soon, along with Gambhir, knocked the living daylight out of the Lankans.

The first five over of the partnership fetched India just 16 runs, the next five overs got india 15 more, and the overs between 11 and 15 earned India 21 runs. Once the initial storm was weathered, it was back to business. India scored as many as 34 runs in just five overs (15th - 20th) and ended the session at 131 for one (26 overs).

The blitz after 20th over got india a staggering 45 runs in just 6 overs. All thanks to the inital caution shown by the openers. If someone switched on his TV just around lunchtime, Sehwag's 70 off just 73 balls would seem like an assault from the very first ball. But that was surely not the case.

If we look at Sehwag's Innings, his first 15 balls fetched him just two runs. Next 15 got him 12 more and suddenly he was back. 13 runs (31st to 45th ball) set Sehwag beautifully for a brutal assault. The final 28 balls of Sehwag's innings before lunch fetched the opener a massive 43 runs. The two openers, have done their job with such carefully crafted innings. It's now upto the rest of the star cast.