Indian bats bludgeon Kenya

That headline could just as easily have read: "Records tumble, so do Kenyans -- the sequel".

Because Paarl, today, was for the Kenyans a reprise of Newlands earlier in the week -- they were getting steamrollered just as thoroughly, only the colours of the opposition jerseys had changed.

India decided to go for broke with its best possible combination. You've got to hope that the induction of Rahul Dravid as wicket-keeper, to accomodate an extra all-rounder in Retinder Singh Sodhi, was more with a view of trying out the option, rather than out of fear that Kenya would give Ganguly's lot another mauling. But let's leave that lie.

Winning the toss and opting -- what else? -- for first strike on a track just a touch softer than the one at Newlands, India started off a bit funny. Ganguly, early on, seemed a shade circumspect, almost as if he wanted to personally ensure that India didn't produce another embarassing collapse. Tendulkar, for his part, initially played cricket like I played tennis the few times I tried -- vigorous swings of the bat and baffled looks as the ball passed over, under, and around the bat.

But he was quick to shake off the fidgets -- and once he settled down (signalling that with a crisp cover drive to bring up the first four of the innings) -- the partnership clicked into top gear.

We'll tell you the story in figures: The 50 came off 59 balls, India got to 98/0 in 15, Ganguly completed 7000 ODI runs when he got to his individual 23, Ganguly and Tendulkar eclipsed the world record of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes when they completed their 16th century partnership, Sachin got to his 50 off 47 deliveries, Ganguly got his off 48, India had 148/0 at the halfway mark, and 175/0 at the end of 30 overs (to note that the other evening, South Africa had gotten to 153/1 at the identical stage), Sachin brought up his 31st ODI century off 100 balls with 11 fours in the 33rd over, the 200 came up in the 35th over, Ganguly got to his 18th ODI century in the 39th over (114 balls, six fours, three sixes), the pair eclipsed their own world record for the highest first wicket partnership (252 in Colombo, 1998).....

Ooof!

Ganguly finally holed out playing a bored-looking chip, Tendulkar shortly thereafter got too close to a full toss and clouted it straight to midwicket, VVS Laxman without sufficient time to get a good sighter played a couple of nifty shots and then got cute with a yorker, aiming to play to third man and missing...

And then Virendra Sehwag stepped up -- and produced a brutal display of indiscriminate hitting that powered him to 55 not out off just 23 balls (the official last ball of the innings was heaved over long on for a mammoth six -- and when it was called no ball and rebowled, Sehwag then slammed a four through point) and in the process, got India to 351/3 at the end of the allotted 50.

Kenya, early on, did try to bowl the sort of length and line that had helped them to a stunning victory in the previous encounter against India -- but after an over or so of watchfulness, Ganguly began to innovate, and the bowlers promptly lost their rhythm. The other aspect of their cricket that helped Kenya in its earlier game was some stunning ground fielding and catching -- today, those two components stunned only by their complete mediocrity.

You don't chase 351. Not unless the opposition bowls like complete novices, and field even worse.

India didn't bowl like novices or field worse. Kenya, ergo, didn't make anything of a fist of the chase. Enough said?

At the end of it all, a few facts and figures, and one question, remained. India now has, stats-wise, the world's best opening partnership ever. The team has two openers who between them have 49 ODI centuries. The team has a blaster in Sehwag who, whenever he fires, seems more lethal than the bombs the US is dropping ad nauseum in Afghanistan. The two best opening partnerships ever, in ODI history, are credited to this pair. The same combination also has a sizeable 197, and a 193 earlier in this very series. The top three best partnerships for any wicket (331 between Sachin and Rahul Dravid, 318 between Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, and 275 between Azhar and Jadeja) are all Indians.

Wow!

So why, then, isn't India -- which has so many individual records to celebrate -- up there in the top two, maybe three, teams in the world?

Detailed scoreboard:

Indian innings
Kenyan innings