Virender Sehwag slammed the first ball of the 2011 World Cup to the boundary and then carried on to score an aggressive half-century that subdued a boisterous crowd in Mirpur.
He took advantage of extremely wayward lines and lengths from Bangladesh's bowlers, who were struggling to maintain composure in the grandest one-day international of their lives.At the half-way stage of the Indian innings, the batsmen had laid a sound platform for a total well in excess of 260, which was the maximum Shakib Al Hasan said he wanted to chase when he put India in because of the dew factor later in the evening. There was wisdom in chasing - last 12 day-night matches in Mirpur were won by the team batting second - but Bangladesh bowlers offered ample scoring opportunities on a pitch that was slow, kept low and had loopy bounce not conducive for easy shot-making.
Sehwag, however, kick started the tournament with a flurry of shots. His opening salvo, off the first ball from Shafiul Islam, was a powerful drive off the back foot through cover that brought the tumultuous din to a momentary pause. Shafiul offered Sehwag width again and watched the final ball speed to the cover boundary. In his second over, Shafiul erred by offering Sachin Tendulkar two deliveries on the pads: both were flicked to the boundary, one behind square and the other in front. In between those overs, Rubel Hossain had conceded two boundaries as well, and India raced to 36 after four overs.
Shakib turned to his premier spinner, Abdur Razzak, as early as the fifth over and his introduction brought a measure of control over the run-rate. India scored only 12 off the new four overs. Razzak looped the ball into Sehwag from over the wicket, following the batsman and cramping him for room as he tried to back away and hit inside out through the off side. Sehwag mis-timed several drives and cuts. He had scored 12 off his first six balls and 13 off his next 24.
In the ninth over, Tendulkar brought up 50 by taking Razzak on the full and lifting him over midwicket. Bangladesh looked listless as Sehwag emerged from his temporary loss of touch and drove the first ball off the bowling Powerplay to the long-on boundary and finally made good contact with an inside-out drive. And then they had some good fortune. A mix-up during which both Tendulkar and Sehwag were ball watching left both batsmen at one end, and the Mirpur crowd found its voice again.
Sehwag, however, continued piercing gaps and hit the tournament's first six by carting Razzak over wide long-on, a fearsome strike to bring up his half-century off 45 balls. With his regular opening partner, Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag added 83 runs to build on the opening stand of 69. But while Sehwag used muscle on a sluggish surface, Gambhir played with surgical precision, dabbing, pushing and chipping into gaps to score at a run-a-ball without fuss.
His dismissal for 39, bowled after missing a straight one from Mahmudullah, brought the crowd to life again. Sehwag, however, continued increasing the boundary count and his is the scalp the Mirpur crowd was desperate to get.
