Dhoni hits ton, India firmly in driver's seat

MUMBAI: For Sri Lanka, it might have seemed like they had been granted a free showing of Pulp Fiction just when they were dreading the thought of Dhoni hits ton, India firmly in driver's seat watching any further bloodshed.

The whole of Friday was Prime Time, a Tarantino-like thriller that had Indians gleefully munching popcorn as the Lankans looked for a place for hide.

No sooner did the ball land on the roof of Brabourne's clubhouse in the final half an hour of the third day's proceedings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni raised his bat for a well-struck 100 and ran back to the dressing room acknowledging the cheers. He wanted Sri Lanka to pad up and play as many overs as possible while chasing India's impressive 333-run lead.

Dhoni declared at 726/9, his innings bringing the curtains down on an extremely boisterous show that Sehwag had started. Sri Lanka will remember this batting genocide for a long time. It left the visitors nursing multiple bruises as the Indians registered their highest-ever total in Tests, surpassing their previous best of 705 at Sydney in 2004.
For Lanka, it couldn't have been more torturous after Sehwag had virtually battered the opposition.

No sooner did Friday begin, though, the high expectations that Sehwag would become the first batsman to score three triple tons in Tests fell flat. Muttiah Muralitharan allowed himself to grin for the first time in this Test match, coming round the wicket and sending down one with enough loop for the batsman to tap it right back. Caught and bowled for 293, seven excruciatingly painful runs short of 300, Sehwag returned to a standing ovation.

At least for the next 36 years - that is how long Brabourne yearned for a Test match - it will easily remain the most pleasing memory here. Soon, Dravid left too, missing his century after scoring 74 runs and for just that moment, it began to seem doubtful if batting once would be enough for the hosts.

Often, in Mumbai, when a match is on and regardless of whether Sachin Tendulkar is playing in it or not, it is a given for the crowd to keep chanting his name. 'Sachin, Sachin,' they go on, and he needn't actually be there. So, it was just about normal that India at 487/3, with Sehwag having set the tone, Tendulkar walked out to a rapturous welcome and scored 53 in the middle of a decibel level that made Lanka cringe further. Along with Laxman's 62, these were important runs though India were still quite far from reaching the 700-run mark until Dhoni had finished.

On Saturday, when play begins, each delivery bowled, every wicket taken, will be with the sole intention of wrapping this Test up as soon as possible. India's race to the Number One spot in the ICC Test rankings has begun and they might as well reach there in style.

For all the runs accumulated, every bit contributed by those playing the second fiddle to Sehwag was pleasing to the eye. If his smacking Sri Lanka all over the park was a Thursday special, Dhoni hitting his sixes all over the clubhouse roof time and again made for Friday's blockbuster.

With 15-odd minutes left for the day's play to end, Lanka faced three overs, scored 11 runs and surely got a taste of things to come. India had begun attack with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha from each end.

TOI

South Africa to play Mexico in FIFA World Cup opener

CAPE TOWN: Brazil and Portugal were sent on a World Cup collision course when the final draw was made on Friday while Lady Luck smiled on England


The Brazilians and Portuguese will clash in Group G and will be joined by top African side Ivory Coast and unknown quantities North Korea in what will inevitably be dubbed the 'group of death'.

England coach Fabio Capello had reason to be happy as his men drew the United States, Algeria and Slovenia.

Ironically it was David Beckham, who plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who pulled out the ball which paired up the Americans with England in the World Cup for the first time since 1950 when the United States pulled off a shock 1-0 win.

Hosts South Africa were given a tough assignment, getting 1998 winners France, Central America powerhouse Mexico and Uruguay.

Group B has Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria and Greece, with Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia making up Group D.

The Netherlands have Japan, Cameroon and Denmark in Group E. Italy has New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia in Group F while in the final Group H, European champions Spain go up against Honduras, Chile and Switzerland.

The draw, which saw the 32 qualified teams split into eight groups of four for the first round stage of the June 11-July 11 tournament, laid down the battle lines for what will be the first World Cup to be played on African soil.

With the eyes of the footballing world firmly focused on this historic city perched on the southern tip of the continent, it was an evening full of symbolic significance both for Africa and for South Africa, coming as it did just 15 years after the end of the apartheid era.

After a show that featured both traditional and modern African music, the stage was handed over to South African-born Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron who took on the duties of main presenter to be joined on stage later by other sporting celebrities including Beckham.

First, as pre-arranged, out of the seeded Pot 1 were hosts South Africa who will be playing in just their third World Cup and who, at 86th in the world, are the lowest-ranking team in the competition.

They were followed in turn by heavyweights Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil and Spain.

It was then a question of who would go up against them from the three remaining pots which had been carefully assembled to ensure that teams from the same continent would be kept apart as far as possible.

The four Asian qualifiers, three North and Central American teams and minnows New Zealand, representing Oceania, came out of Pot 2. First out was Mexico putting them into the opening match against South Africa in Johannesburg on June 11.

The five remaining African sides and three remaining South Americans were allocated from out of Pot 3 leaving the remaining eight European teams from the final Pot 4.

The latter contained the two most dangerous floaters in the draw - France and Portugal - and when Portugal were flung in with Brazil the atmosphere turned electric in the main auditorium of the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Group A - South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B - Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, Greece
Group C - England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D - Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia
Group E - Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark
Group F - Italy (holders), New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
Group G - Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H - Spain, Honduras, Chile, Switzerland

TOI

add add * Bandra-Worli Sea link part of Mumbai Marathon route

STAFF WRITER 20:39 HRS IST

Mumbai, Dec 3 (PTI) Runners participating in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on January 17, 2010 will run on the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea link, which will be part of the 42.1 km course, organisers said here today.

The seventh edition of the race which will have 14,500 runners taking part in full marathon and half marathon will offer USD 3,10,000 in prize money, an increase of USD 60,000 from last year.

For the first time in seven years there will be a separate start for half marathon which will commence at Bandra and end at CST.

The change has been necessitated by the need to avoid convergence of the runners of the two categories and give the participants of the full marathon a clear route from start to finish, the orgainsers said.