January 17, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 16, 1426

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LAHORE, Jan 16: Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid demonstrated that Pakistan bowlers were even more docile than the Qadhafi Stadium wicket as records continue to tumble on the fourth day of the first Test on Monday.

Making light of the poor visibility that had plagued this Test for the fourth successive day, the Indian openers were on the verge of breaking a 50-year-old world record established by their fellow countrymen way back in 1955-56.

When umpires finally abandoned the day’s proceedings India had progressed from the overnight 145 without loss to 403 with Sehwag batting on 247 and Dravid on a solid 128. The two were in no mood to squander their wickets easily.

The makeshift opening pair just need another 11 runs to shatter Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy’s world record first wicket stand of 413 established against New Zealand at Chennai.

Only 47 overs were bowled in the day and in that period Indians scored 258 runs. So far a total of 142 overs have been wasted due to inclement weather and more are expected to be lost on Tuesday, the last day of the Test.

Despite the loss of more than one and a half day’s play, the match so far had produced a remarkable 1182 runs for seven wickets on a dream batting track.

The Indian openers were so dominant that they scored consistently at a remarkable rate of five runs an over throughout their stay at the crease despite several interruptions since they came to bat on Saturday, the second day of the match.

Sehwag, scoring more than run-a-ball, had so far smashed 46 fours and a six having faced 240 balls reached his hundred off 93 balls and double century in 189 deliveries.

He reached his second double century against Pakistan hitting Rana Navedul Hasan for four successive fours to reach 199. He, however, was lucky to be dropped by Shoaib Malik at third man off the same bowler’s very next ball.

Sehwag who is also the only Indian batsman to post a triple hundred in Tests – 309 against Pakistan at Multan in 2004 — appears to relish hosts’ bowlers and the second triple century is well within his reach, weather permitting of course.

Dravid, a pedestrian in comparison to his ultra-aggressive partner, duly completed his 21st century by sweeping Shoaib Malik to the fence. He too had a lucky escape before reaching the coveted three-figure mark, Inzamamul Haq at first slip missed him off Shoaib Malik.

Apart from Shoaib Akhtar, who commanded respect from the two Indian batsmen, the other Pakistani bowlers came under the hammer from the punishing blade of Sehwag as the stocky Delhi batsman repeatedly scorched the turf with a series of breathtaking strokes.

With just one day remaining, the match is doomed to end in an aimless draw except for perhaps more records being established which is not good advertisement for Test cricket which is already under threat from the ODIs and latest abridged version of the sport, the Twenty20.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 679-7 declared (Younis Khan 199, Mohammad Yousuf 173, Shahid Afridi 103, Kamran Akmal 102 not out, Shoaib Malik 59).

INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 145-0):

V. Sehwag not out 247

R. Dravid not out 128

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-7, W-2, NB-17) 28

TOTAL (for no wkt, 75 overs) 403

TO BAT: V.V.S. Laxman, S.R. Tendulkar, S.C. Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, A.B. Agarkar, A. Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.

BOWLING (to-date): Shoaib Akhtar 15-6-45-0 (4nb, 1w); Rana Navedul Hasan 15-1-88-0 (1nb, 1w); Shahid Afridi 11-0-55-0 (1nb); Mohammad Sami 12-1-67-0 (4nb); Danish Kaneria 10-0-69-0 (6nb); Shoaib Malik 12-1-70-0 (1nb).

Fastest 200s in terms of balls received:

153 balls      N.J. Astle     New Zealand v England     Christchurch 2001-02

182 balls     V. Sehwag India v Pakistan     Lahore     2005-06

211 balls     H.H. Gibbs     South Africa v Pakistan     Cape Town     2002-03

212 balls     A.C. Gilchrist     Australia v South Africa     Johannesburg     2001-02

220 balls     I.T. Botham      England v India     The Oval     1982

222 balls     V. Sehwag     India v Pakistan     Multan     2003-04

229 balls     P.A. de Silva     Sri Lanka v Bangladesh     Colombo     2002

231 balls     G.P. Thorpe      England v New Zealand     Christchurch     2001-02

232 balls     C.G. Greenidge     West Indies v England     Lord’s     1984

240 balls     C.H. Lloyd West Indies v India     Mumbai     1974-75

241 balls     Zaheer Abbas     Pakistan v India     Lahore     1982-83

242 balls     D.G. Bradman     Australia v England     The Oval     1934

242 balls     I.V.A. Richards     West Indies v Australia     Melbourne     1984-85