Sehwag dominates first session

New Zealand were given an early glimpse of the difficult task ahead of them on the Indian tour as the home batsmen sprinted to 127 for 1 by lunch on the first day. Virender Sehwag did the damage, briefly threatening to become only the fifth player to make a century in the first session of a Test, with an innings that had none of the violence normally associated with scoring at such a scorching pace.

India were clearly thrilled at winning the toss on a flat track: Dhoni had a huge grin as he said, "Well, of course we want to bat," while Harbhajan Singh, watching from the boundary, threw his hands up in jubilation on hearing the news. Sehwag made the most of easy conditions and the closest he came to being dismissed was when he attempted a quick single in the sixth over - a direct hit would have sent him back.

Otherwise, it was a Sehwag treat for the sprinkling of fans who had turned up at Motera. In the third over, he jokingly signaled for a free-hit after Chris Martin overstepped. There aren't any in Tests, but that didn't stop Sehwag from carving the next delivery through covers for four to get his first runs. Two more off-side boundaries rounded off the over, and there was no slowing Sehwag after that despite plenty of short deliveries to stop the drives.

All his runs came on the off-side until Jesse Ryder came on in the 11th over in a surprise move. A lofted on-drive dispatched his first ball for four, while the next was a more orthodox punch down the ground for another boundary. India were 58 for 0, the New Zealand attack was looking blunt, and Sehwag was enjoying himself, laughing after slipping while taking a single.

Ryder, though, got the final delivery of the over to move in a touch and had Gautam Gambhir inside-edging onto the stumps. It ended an innings where Gambhir struggled for fluency as he searched for his form of 2009. He fed on leg-side offerings from debutant Hamish Bennett, who bowled with plenty of pace but didn't trouble the batsmen too much.

Rahul Dravid played cautiously, while Sehwag kept the score ticking along at a good rate. He took two fours an over off offspinner Jeetan Patel three times, and with 15 minutes remaining to lunch he had galloped to 82. He didn't reach the three-figure by the break, but that was scant consolation for a New Zealand team that will be wondering where the breakthroughs will come from, after a session where their bowling barely threatened.