Nagpur, Nov 9 (IANS) India strengthened its hold on the final cricket Test with openers Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay guiding the side to 98 for no loss in the second innings at lunch against Australia on the fourth day. India have now extended the lead to 184 runs.
At break, Sehwag was batting on 59 and Vijay on 37 and dominated the morning session by scoring briskly.
Sehwag made a bright start, driving the fifth ball of the day for a four. Both the batsmen accumulated runs safely with few audacious strokes coming from Sehwag every now and then.
Australian bowlers kept pitching the ball up but lacked the firepower for a breakthrough on the placid track.
It was a controlled innings from Sehwag, who ducked short deliveries but punished anything that drifted down his leg. He was severe on Australian pace-spearhead Brett Lee, who had to be removed from the attack, after he conceded 24 runs from his first spell of five overs.
Lee was replaced by off-spinner Jason Krezja, who also suffered at the hands of Sehwag. The 30-year-old twice slog-swept Krejza for four, the second got him his half-century, 25 minutes before lunch.
Vijay, on the other hand, was cautious in his approach. He left the bouncers well and played some handsome strokes straight to the fielders. Vijay came heavily on Krejza , cutting the offie through point and gully for boundaries and even stepped out to whip a four over mid-on.
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