Sehwag’s 2nd fastest ton and Dhoni’s near-one

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 -- Virender Sehwag scored 146 against Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Rajkot, something that was his highest score in an ODI. Before this, he had had a highest score of 130 in ODIs, something he had scored against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 2003.

This was Sehwag 12th ODI century and his third in this calendar year. Earlier, he had smashed a 116 against Sri Lanka this year, followed by an unbeaten 125 against New Zealand at Hamilton. Rather surprisingly, there have been five scores of his between 110 and 120 out of the 12 centuries he has scored.

His 146 came off only 102 balls, making it one of his quickest innings in his ODI career. His quickest century was against New Zealand earlier this year, a knock that came off 60 balls, making this his second fastest effort in ODIs. Earlier, his first ever century was also against New Zealand in Colombo, a knock that he had smashed off 69 balls.

Apart from Sehwag’s 146, captain MS Dhoni also looked good to smash another century after the twin-efforts in the test series. However, he fell short when he was dismissed for 72 scored off only 53 balls.