VIRENDER SEHWAG smashed the highest individual score in one-day internationals today, hitting 219 as India piled on 418-5 in the fourth match of the series against the West Indies.
The Delhi opener plundered 25 boundaries and seven sixes during his 149-ball blitz, joining compatriot Sachin Tendulkar as the only batsmen in history to score double-centuries in the 50-over format.
Sehwag moved past Tendulkar’s 200 not out – against South Africa in Gwalior last year – in the 44th over when, on 197, he cut Andre Russell to the point fence.
He was finally dismissed in the 47th over when he was caught in the deep off Kieron Pollard and was clapped off the field by the entire West Indies team and some 30,000 jubilant home fans.
Sehwag’s blistering knock helped India notch their highest one-day total, surpassing the 414-7 they made against Sri Lanka in Rajkot in 2009.
It was Sehwag’s 15th three-figure knock in one-day cricket and the first since making 175 against Bangladesh in the opening match of the World Cup in Dhaka in February this year.
Sehwag, who is captaining India in the series in the absence of the rested Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had managed just 46 runs in the previous three matches.
But he found the right conditions to strike form on the run-laden pitch at the Holkar stadium in Indore and lift India towards a decisive 3-1 lead in the series.
Sehwag, who was dropped on 170 by West Indies captain Darren Sammy in the covers, put on 176 for the first wicket with Gautam Gambhir (67) and 140 for the second with Suresh Raina (55).
It was the ideal tune-up for Sehwag as he prepared for the four-Test series in Australia starting later this month.
Left-hander Gambhir, who had scored 16 runs in the series, broke the shackles to hit 11 boundaries in his run-a-ball innings during the rollicking opening stand.
Gambhir, who also heads to Australia next week, was unlucky to be run out in the 23rd over when Sehwag changed his mind about taking a sharp single to the cover region.
The West Indies suffered a blow before the start when star batsman Darren Bravo was ruled out of the must-win game due to a hamstring strain.
Bravo was replaced by Kieran Powell.
India brought in debutant leg-spinner Rahul Sharma in place of fast bowler Umesh Yadav, the only change from the side that lost the third match in Ahmedabad on Monday (December 5).
