It was a run orgy at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. The first session witnessed a semblance of battle, at least in the first hour, but play for the rest of the day was a one-way street heading India’s way. Gautam Gambhir notched up his seventh hundred in nine Tests, Virender Sehwag completed a feisty century, Rahul Dravid was close to his ton and India posted the highest total scored in a day in a Test in India.

The situation was summed up by the sight of Rangana Herath bowling over the stumps and outside leg to the newly arrived Dravid. It said so much about what Sri Lanka were thinking and about how totally India had dominated. Things are likely to get worse for Sri Lanka with the pitch expected to break up in a couple of days.

It wasn’t just the runs, it was the manner in which they were compiled from the second hour on that was telling. The batsmen seemed to do as they wished: Gambhir punctuated his charges down the wicket with delicate late cuts, Sehwag went either inside-out or carved across the line as his mood seized him, and Dravid, who hit the last ball of the day for a boundary, pierced the off-side field at will.

On a day like this stat-freaks were bound to have a field day: It was the first time India scored over 400 in a day, it was the highest opening partnership between Gambhir and Sehwag, and even, Muralitharan, at one point, was leaking at over 6 runs per over.

The most telling statistic was the spinners’ figures. Sri Lanka had managed to keep the scoring rate down with the new ball but things went pear-shaped for them after the spinners were introduced, with Sehwag and Gambhir looting 73 runs off nine overs before lunch and little changing after the break. They weren’t allowed to settle at all by the openers who lashed out at them with a calculated fury that was breathtaking to watch.

Gambhir went after Herath in his first over, hitting him for three boundaries: He whipped through covers, cut past point and stepped out to loft to the straight boundary. When Herath returned later, Gambhir went repeatedly down the track to drive him to distraction. If Gambhir reserved the best of his aggression for Herath, Sehwag went after Mendis in the first session and took care of Muralitharan in the second. Mendis floated a full toss, offered a long-hop and slid one down the leg side in his first spell and Sehwag sent each one to the boundary. The attacking spirit was best seen in the last over before lunch when Sehwag launched an offbreak from Mendis high over long-on. That aggression continued post lunch with Sehwag collecting five boundaries against Muralitharan: Two fierce off drives, an inside-edge, and a tuck to fine-leg boundary which brought up his hundred. He fell to Muralitharan though, against the run of play, trying to play an inside-out cover drive to a length delivery but failing to clear cover.

What facilitated India’s dominance was the clarity of thought in the approach by all the batsmen. Gambhir paced himself superbly; he knew if he played out the new ball, he could then indulge himself against the spinners on a first-day track. There were couple of occasions when he hung his bat out to the new ball and was seen immediately reprimanding himself. Gambhir had different approaches to the spinners: He stepped out often against Herath, used his crease well against Muralitharan, going either well back or stretching forward, and worked the angles against Ajantha Mendis. There were several delightful late cuts that showcased his skill but what etched in the memory was a gorgeous, almost nonchalant, straight drive off Muralitharan. He fell, beaten by the dip and scooping a return catch to Muralitharan who flew to his right to pull off a difficult chance.

Dravid was decisive in everything he did right from the start. When he defended he showed the full face of bat and deployed soft hands and when he chose to attack, he either stretched well forward to drive inside-out or rocked right back to punch through the off side. There were many skilful punches on the back foot but what stood out was a gorgeous inside-out extra-cover drive off Muralitharan.

However, the most interesting of the three knocks was that of Sehwag’s. It seemed as though he was waging a battle against himself initially. He chased his third ball – a wide delivery from Welegedera – and edged it but was dropped when Prasanna Jayawardene dived across and distracted Mahela Jayawardene at first slip. Sehwag then tried to go hard at Angelo Mathews a couple of times and was beaten. It was the make or break moment: he was either going to combust from impatience or would change tack and be more watchful. He chose the latter route and started to play defensively with the full face of the bat and as close to the body as possible. That his first boundary came only off the 27th delivery he faced said much about his mindset. There were many typical forceful hits but what caught his spirit today was a delicate late steer to third man boundary off Welegedera when he waited on the front foot before opening the bat-face at the last minute to get it between gully and the slip cordon.

The presence of three spinners and just one frontline seamer was always going to pose problems for Sri Lanka after they lost the toss. The early results are there for all to see and it’s India’s Test to lose from here on.

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