Sehwag's assault gives India firm control of final Test

Replying to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 393, the 31-year-old Sehwag set the Brabourne stadium ablaze with a stunning display of strokeplay as the hosts raced to a record score of 443 for one at close on an extraordinary second day's play.
Sehwag plundered runs at will as he not only notched up his 17th Test ton, his sixth 200 plus total, but laid the platform for India to push for victory which would take them to the number one position in the ICC Test rankings.
With the Delhi dasher tearing the Lankan bowling attack to shreds with his unbeaten 284 coming off just 239 balls, the Indians scored at an amazing rate of 5.60 runs per over to post their highest ever single-day score on a Brabourne track which seemed to have eased out considerably.
Rahul David (62) was giving Sehwag company on stumps on a day which saw a number of batting records fall by the wayside. The day clearly belonged to the hosts as they took less than half an hour to polish off the remaining two Sri Lankan wickets and had taken a lead of 50 runs by the end of the day, scoring more than 400 runs in a day for the second consecutive Test.
The Indians got off to a rollicking start with Sehwag and Murali Vijay (87) scoring 221 for the first wicket and then Dravid played a supporting role as the hosts maintained the tempo right through the day.
It was India's highest score on a single day, eclipsing the previous best of 417 in the second Test of the ongoing series in Kanpur last week. Sehwag also broke his record of most individual runs scored in a day by scoring 284, improving upon his previous best of 257 against South Africa in Chennai last year. He also became the third fastest Indian to complete 6000 runs in Test cricket after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
The sizeable crowd at the Brabourne stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, was treated to some audacious exhibition of strokeplay as Sehwag smashed as many as 40 boundaries and seven sixes during his rampage.
As many as 168 runs were scored in the second session in only 27 overs as all the Lankan bowlers were subjected to harsh treatment by Sehwag who singled out Rangana Herath, the left arm spinner who took a five-wicket haul in the second Test at Kanpur, for special punishment.
Sehwag, who notched up his third triple-figure knock against the Lankans on Thursday, lofted Herath for four of his five sixes. Sehwag's century, which he reached with a paddle sweep off Muralitharan, was studded with 13 fours and two sixes.