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5 Times Virender Sehwag hit a first-ball boundary in the 2011 World Cup

Virender Sehwag is one of the most explosive openers to ever play for India. Nicknamed ‘Viru‘, Sehwag played the big shots no matter what the situation. He scored 8,273 runs in his ODI career, and always went for the big shots. He thus continued with this mindset even in India’s victorious 2011 World Cup campaign. So today, we will take a look at the 5 times when Virender Sehwag hit a boundary on the first ball in the 2011 ODI World Cup.

#1. Against Bangladesh

Virender Sehwag absolutely dominated Bangladesh when India played against them in the group stage match. India and Bangladesh were a part of Group B and played the first match at Dhaka in 2011. He hit 175 runs from just 140 balls, as he picked the Bangladesh bowlers apart.

Sehwag started off his innings with a bang, hitting a four off Shafiul Islam on the very first ball. Islam had opened the bowling for Bangladesh and gave away 69 runs from just 7 overs. Sehwag hit 14 boundaries and 5 sixes in his innings. India won the match by 87 runs.

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#2. Against England

India played England at Bengaluru in the 11th match of the 2011 ODI World Cup. The match got tied as England equalled India’s score of 338. Sehwag opened with Sachin Tendulkar, as James Anderson bowled the first over of the match.

Sehwag edged the very first ball to the third man and got dropped in the slips. To add insult to injury, the ball also raced away to the boundary. However, Sehwag couldn’t bank on his luck too much, as he got out for 35 runs. Sachin scored 120 as India put up a challenging 338 runs in their 50 overs.

#3. Against Ireland

Virender Sehwag hit a boundary on the very first ball of every match up till the World Cup final. This time the opponents were Ireland. Boyd Rankin bowled the first over and got hit for a four on the very first ball of his over.

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Ireland set India an easy target of 208 when India played against them in the 22nd match of the 2011 World Cup. However, Sehwag couldn’t get going, as he got out for just 5 runs from 3 balls. But it was an easy win for India as they reached the target with 5 wickets to spare.

#4. Against Netherlands

India played Netherlands in the 25th match of the 2011 World Cup. Netherlands collapsed for 189 as the Indian bowling destroyed the Dutch batting line-up. With a small target to reach, India were set to win the match easily.

Mudassar Bukhari bowled the first over for Netherlands, and his very first ball got dispatched to the boundary by Sehwag. He became the second-highest run-scorer for India in the match, scoring 39 runs from just 26 balls. India reached the target in just 36.3 overs.

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#5. Against South Africa

This match between India and South Africa was a thriller, with South Africa shedding off their ‘choker’ tag to defeat India by 3 wickets. Sachin Tendulkar scored a great century, and Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir both scored fifties. Sehwag scored 73 runs, while Gambhir scored 69.

The explosive opener made his intentions clear from the get-go, hitting Dale Steyn for a confident boundary towards mid-on. India’s top 3 scored the majority of the runs as the rest of the batting order collapsed. South Africa won the match in thrilling fashion, as they went past the target with 3 wickets and 2 balls to spare.

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