By IANS,
Mumbai : Virender Sehwag’s hurricane unbeaten 17th Test century powered India to a commanding 260 for the loss of one wicket at tea, in reply to Sri Lanka’s 393 in the first innings, on the second day of the third and the final cricket Test here Thursday.
At the break, Sehwag was batting on 151 and Rahul Dravid on 17 as India reduced the lead to just 133 runs.
Indian batsmen completely dominated the first two sessions after bowlers packed up the Sri Lankan tail within 30 minutes early in the day at the Brabourne Stadium.
Openers Sehwag and Murali Vijay (87) set the tone of the innings by giving a promising start with their 221-run first wicket stand. They duo quickly raced on to score 93 by the lunch break and accelerated the scoring in the second session by adding another 138 runs.
Sehwag went on a rampage right from the start and hit 19 fours and five sixes in his unfinished innings. Vijay, playing his second Test match, was the perfect foil and rotated the strike, but never lost out on opportunites to punish the loose deliveries.
Sehwag got to his 6,000 Test runs in style by hitting left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for a big six over the bowler’s head. He also became the third fastest Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar to score 6,000 runs in Test cricket. Gavaskar achieved the mark in 117 innings, Tendulkar in 120 and Sehwag took 123 innings.
Vijay got his maiden half-century by hitting Muttiah Muralitharan for a huge six over long on. He was set for his maiden Test hundred when trapped leg before by Herath. Vijay hit ten fours and a six during his 121 ball innings.
Earlier, Sri Lanka could add just 27 runs to their overnight score of 366 for eight. Angelo Matthews was unfortunate to get run out one short of his maiden Test century and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha trapped Chanaka Welegedara leg before wicket to wrap up the innings.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up four for 112 while Ojha bagged three for 107.
India lead the series 1-0 and a win here will propel them to the top spot in Test rankings. The historic Brabourne Stadium is hosting the first Test match in 36 years.