AHMEDABAD, India: Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid struck centuries in contrasting fashion as India racked up 329-3 on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand Thursday. Sehwag hit 24 fours and a six in his 199-ball 173 and also shared 237 runs for the second wicket with Dravid who scored a patient 104 off 222 balls with 14 fours. Sachin Tendulkar, eyeing his 50th Test ton, was 13 not out with Venkatsai Laxman on seven when stumps were drawn for the day at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Top-ranked India dominated its rival which struggled in batsman-friendly conditions and dropped three easy chances after losing the toss. Sehwag brought off his 22nd Test century in style, dancing down the track to loft left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori for a four over mid-off. The dashing opener, dropped on 155 by substitute fielder Martin Guptill, was finally dismissed by Vettori, who became only the second player after Stephen Fleming to play 100 Tests for New Zealand. “The pitch was very easy to bat on and I knew that if I saw off the opening 30 minutes, I was in for a big score,” Sehwag said. “New Zealand has an inexperienced bowling attack and it would not have been easy for them to bowl in these conditions.” Dravid, going through a lean spell with the bat this year, was dropped on 28 by wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins who failed to latch on to a low chance off part-time medium pacer Jesse Ryder. But the veteran batsman shrugged off a sluggish start and a blow on the head from a bouncer by debutant Hamish Bennett to complete his 30th Test century before being bowled by fast bowler Chris Martin. The day belonged to Sehwag, who entertained the fans with a breathtaking array of shots all around the ground. The swashbuckling batsman put on 60 runs with Gautam Gambhir, the duo surpassing the 3,010-run tally of Chetan Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar to become India's most prolific opening pair. Sehwag started off aggressively, hitting Martin for three fours in the third over of the day before Ryder struck to dismiss Gambhir, who inside-edged onto the leg-stump while attempting a drive. “We failed to stick to our plans and the way things were going, we were expecting India to score in excess of 400 today,” Ryder said. “The wicket is flat, but one good session can change the course of the game.” India is the favorite to win the three-Test series against the eighth-ranked Kiwis after beating Australia 2-0 at home last month. The second Test will be played in Hyderabad from Nov. 12-16 and the third in Nagpur from Nov. 20-24. The Tests will be followed by five One-Day Internationals from Nov. 28. – Agence France
