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Sachin's historic double ton flattens Proteas

ust when we thought we have seen the best of Sachin Tendulkar’s batting, the master walked in with his mighty piece of willow and produced something that has never been seen in limited over cricket — a double century.

Sachin Tendulkar's phenomenal undefeated innings of 200 powered India to a comprehensive 153-run victory in the second ODI.

Tendulkar’s phenomenal undefeated innings of 200 powered India to a comprehensive 153-run victory in the second ODI. Along with being overwhelmed at the hands of clinical Indians, the Proteas slumped to a series defeat 2-0 with one match to go.
The Tendulkar master-class scripted India’s emphatic victory and quite deservingly the champion batsman walked away with the player of the match trophy. And quite befittingly the state cricket board has decided to name a section of the Captain Roop Singh stadium after Sachin.
Tendulkar’s knock was wonderfully backed by the bowlers, who denied the visitors any comeback into the game by picking up wickets at regular intervals. The pacers were expensive despite picking up crucial wickets but the part-time spinners once again impressed with their accuracy. Together, they bowled the Proteas out for 248 in 42.5 overs.
With a target of 401 hovering over their heads, everyone in the South African dressing room would have had their eyes on Herschelle Gibbs. After all, it was Gibbs whose blistering 175 enabled them to chase down 434 against Australia at Wanderers in 2006. But it was not to be. Pressure got the better of the explosive opener and he played a Praveen Kumar’s delivery on to his stumps in the third over.
The visitors’ hopes were further dented when after playing some superb flicks and drives for his 24 runs, Hashim Amla holed out to Nehra at mid-on, mis-timing a pull off Sreesanth. Nehra struck once again in his next over and South Africa lost their skipper. Kallis (11) edged a low full-toss which crashed into his stumps.
Next to go was Alviro Petersen (9), who was done in by Ravindra Jadeja’s quicker delivery.
Yusuf Pathan bowled well, sticking to the stump-to-stump line and varying his speed with guile. After getting rid of Duminy, another duck for him, the part-timer returned to scalp the valuable wicket of Mark Boucher and had South Africa reeling at 134 for 7 in the 23rd over.
The only resilience came from AB de Villiers, who hung in there till the end and scored a patient century. With his team in total disarray, de Villiers refused to give in to the pressure and played his natural game. His knock was filled with some lovely shots all around the ground and included 13 boundaries and two sixes. South Africa’s lone fighter was stranded on 114 when his team folded for 248.
Earlier, after MS Dhoni elected to bat first, India lost Virender Sehwag cheaply when Wayne Parnell surprised him with a short-pitched delivery and got him caught at third-man by Steyn.

AB de Villiers scored a valiant century and fought on till the end as his teammates succumbed to the pressure.

But Sachin Tendulkar looked in glorious touch right from the beginning, as he unleashed some magnificent shots from his repertoire. Like a genius at work, he carved out boundaries with finesse and power on both sides of the wicket. Wayne Parnell was welcomed to the bowling crease with an immaculately timed cover-drive and an effortless flick for four. Steyn wasn’t treated any differently as the maestro pummeled him for a few powerful drives on the off-side and a couple of pulls. While the master placed the ball like an artist, he also thumped it authoritatively with lofted drives down the ground and over the extra-cover fence. Tendulkar’s incredible innings exhibited his class, sublime touch and sheer genius. The batting virtuoso flattened bowlers’ morale with each of his 25 boundaries and three sixes.
While on one occasion he picked up a Steyn delivery from outside the off-stump and flicked it away to square-leg fence, on another, he gave himself room to hammer a leg-stump delivery over the extra-cover boundary – strokes of sheer genius!
The champion batsman got good support throughout his innings in form of Dinesh Karthik (79), Yusuf Pathan (36) and then MS Dhoni (68).
Dinesh Karthik once again came to bat one-down and got into the business straight away. He played some brilliant shots through the cover and point region for fours but the flick he played off Parnell to square-leg for a six was simply outstanding. Karthik, who has off late been guilty of not converting his starts into big scores, made amends with a fine knock of 79. He played his part rather well in the 194-run stand with Sachin.
Karthik’s departure hardly brought any relief to the Proteas. What followed was complete carnage. Yusuf Pathan walked in the middle with his characteristic swagger and started whacking the ball with disdain. After pounding Steyn for two fours in an over, he carted Parnell for two mammoth sixes in the next.
When Reelof van der Merve got rid of Pathan, the visitors thought they had got a crucial breakthrough. But they were in for some more pounding. Dhoni came in next and helped himself to a 35-ball 68 with seven boundaries and four sixes. He often danced down the wicket and lofted the ball into the stands. Dhoni’s lightening fast bat speed and raw power combined with Tendulkar’s flawless batting to storm India past 400. Together they brought up an unbeaten partnership of 101 runs in just 53 balls.

I'd like to bat another full 50 overs - Tendulkar

	Sachin Tendulkar: "Since I was timing the ball well, I could be more aggressive and put pressure on the bowlers"

Sachin Tendulkar, who broke the record for the highest individual ODI score, overtaking Saeed Anwar and Charles Coventry on his way to the format's first double-hundred, has said his ability to bat the entire 50 overs was a testament to his fitness after having played the game for more than 20 years.

"It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I'd like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn't drop," Tendulkar said after his effort helped India take a unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. "The ball was coming onto the bat and I was striking the ball well. So when everything falls into its place, it feels nice. It was one of the innings where I felt I was moving well. Since I was timing the ball well, I could be more aggressive and put pressure on the bowlers."

Tendulkar, while dedicating his feat to the people of India, credited coach Gary Kirsten for the team's success in both forms of the game after the debacle in the World Cup in the Caribbean. "I've enjoyed various challenges; after the 2007 World Cup things have looked different and I'm enjoying the game," he said. "The credit also goes to Gary [Kirsten], he has really held the team beautifully. It's about togetherness and playing for each other. You see during the practice sessions that Gary himself trains as hard as anyone else, or probably harder than anyone else as he's the one giving us practice all the time."

Tendulkar said he sensed an opportunity to break the record and reach a double-century when he had gone past 175 in the 42nd over. The record eventually came in the 46th over, and the 200 in the 50th. "When I was near 175-180, I thought I could get a 200 as there were quite a few overs left," he said. He added that he would prefer his achievement to be upstaged by an Indian. "I don't play for records, I play for enjoyment and play with lots of passion. That's how cricket started. I didn't start playing cricket to break all the records; it's happened along the way. The dream was to play for India and do my best.

"I don't think any record is unbreakable. Records are made to be broken. I hope that if this record is broken, it's done by an Indian."

This was India's third-highest score in ODIs, and Tendulkar said the 400-mark would not have reached if not for some big hitting by Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni. "I thought a target of 340-350 would be a good one, but Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni came in and hit the big shots and cleared the ropes consistently and helped us pass 400."

Tendulkar added that India were not relaxing despite having put up a mammoth score, for they were aware South Africa were the only team to have chased down a target in excess of 400. "This was the team that chased 434 against Australia. So we didn't get complacent and told ourselves that we had just got through the half-way stage by scoring 401. And what we did in the second half was extremely important. We were aiming at getting early wickets and putting them out of the game."

Dhoni, who witnessed Tendulkar surpass the record from the other end, said: "I think one of the best innings, you can say. It's always good to be on the other side, watching him score 200 runs. When he is tired and can't play the big shots, he was very clever to use the pace of the bowler and it's very difficult for the bowlers as they don't know where exactly to bowl."

India lost Virender Sehwag early, and Tendulkar was assisted in three sizable stands where runs came at a brisk pace, with Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf and Dhoni. "Once Viru got out, it was important to get some kind of a partnership going. They [Tendulkar and Karthik] went on with their innings, and they set a platform after which we were sure we would get 350-plus which would be a difficult target," Dhoni said. "Yusuf was sent up the order and with the talent he's got, he can be a great asset to the side."

Yusuf scored a quickfire 36 and was particularly lethal during the batting Powerplay, while Dhoni proved destructive at the death, bludgeoning 68 off 35 in a century-stand with Tendulkar in just 53 balls. "I have changed my batting a bit, but the situation demanded that kind [attacking] of innings," Dhoni said. "The ground is a small one, and we were a bit worried about the dew factor. But once they lost 3-4 early wickets, it was difficult for them to get back into the game."

For South Africa and their stand-in captain Jacques Kallis, it was a case of the basics gone wrong. "The toss was quite vital. Our basics were just weren't good enough today. We were outplayed," Kallis said. "We lost wickets at crucial stages, our basics let us down. A fantastic innings by Sachin; he took advantage of some good conditions and he played superbly. We let ourselves down in some areas."

India clinch a thriller; beat South Africa by 1 run

he nail-biting Eden Gardens Test was the perfect envoy to the first ODI between India and South Africa. The Sawai Mann Singh Stadium in Jaipur witnessed something that will go down as one of the most thrilling contests in the history of One-day cricket. And it was India who prevailed in the last ball photo-finish by a solitary run and take a 1-0 lead in the three-ODI series.

Ravindra Jadeja's miserly spell of 2-29 proved to be the difference as India clinched the thriller by one run.

At one time, a Proteas victory looked improbable when they required 74 runs off 42 balls with three wickets in hand. But Wayne Parnell (49) and Dale Steyn (35) turned the match on its head with a miraculous 65-run stand for the ninth wicket in just 38 balls.
The final over was full of drama. With 10 needed, Praveen Kumar was in the firing line to deliver for India. He used the slower ball to good effect to castle Steyn off the second ball. There was a close boundary call which the third umpire reckoned had been saved by a diving Tendulkar and a wide off the last ball. It was all over when Parnell played the last ball to third man region where Sreesanth picked it up and Dhoni dislodged the bails with the visitors one short of victory.
Defending 298 on a batting beauty under lights and with dew around, India desperately needed early wickets and they almost got both openers out in the first two overs. After Loots Bosman luckily survived a close lbw shout in the first over, off Praveen Kumar, Herschelle Gibbs was fortunate to stay at the wicket after the umpire failed to spot a faint nick to Dhoni off Ashish Nehra in the next over.
Praveen was very impressive, getting the ball to swing both ways in the early overs. He always looked like picking up a wicket, beating the batsman with varying movement and inducing false shots that kept falling short of fielders.
Gibbs looked at his destructive best when he welcomed S Sreesanth with two fours and a six into the mid-wicket fence. Bosman too took the attack on to the Indian bowlers but his whirlwind 23-ball cameo of 29 runs soon ended when he was cleaned up by Praveen, trying to give himself room to smash a straight delivery through the covers.
The Indian skipper brought on Ravindra Jadeja in the ninth over for an early spell of spin bowling and the part-timer responded superbly, with a man of the match winning 10-over spell of 2 for 29. He played with the patience of Gibbs, bowling a streak of seven dot-balls to the flamboyant opener, and then induced a lofted drive which landed in Virat Kohli’s hand at long-off.
Just when the Jacques Kallis- AB de Villiers partnership was blossoming, Jadeja struck again and castled the latter with the one that kept low. De Villiers tried to make room to hit the ball through the off-side but was deceived by the low bounce, giving Jadeja a wicket-maiden.
Jadeja kept things simple and stuck to a good line and length. The left-armer didn’t turn the ball a mile but got it to zip into the batsmen after pitching on the off-stump. What was also refreshing to see was Dhoni backing the young part-timer with enough men inside the ring, denying easy singles.

Skipper Jacques Kallis led from the front with three wickets and 89 runs but failed to take the Proteas home.

Sreesanth got off to a disastrous start coming after an injury layoff, giving away 74 runs in his nine overs, though he bagged two massive wickets of Mark Boucher and Kallis. Kallis (89), in particular, was the key wicket for India. As his partners kept changing, the skipper held fort for the Proteas with his 75th half-century. He looked extremely fluent with his shots and batted with a lot of grit. While he anchored the innings and resorted to finding gaps for singles and couples for most part of his knock, he also took the mantle of accelerating the run-rate and struck some mighty blows to bring up his six fours and a huge six.
After Kallis’s exit, all hopes seemed to be vanished for the visitors. But Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn had other plans. Parnell, who impressed with his defensive skills in the Kolkata Test, proved his worth as a handy lower-order batter in ODIs with his 49-run knock. Steyn too, with used the long handle to great effect, racing away to 35 runs off 18 balls, with the help of a four and three sixes.
While the Proteas mostly batting rallied around one man, the Indian innings was a combined effort of all batsmen with Raina’s fine half-century leading the way. The left-hander combined class with power and improvisation. While his 58-run innings comprised an exquisitely timed cover-drive, it also had a powerfully smashed lofted drive over mid-on.
The most impressive feature of Raina’s knock was the way he dealt with the short-pitched deliveries. The southpaw, often criticised for his susceptibility against the bouncer, not only pulled the effort balls with superb timing but also guided one smartly over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary. Raina also stamped his authority with a mighty six down the ground off Parnell.
Apart from Raina, there were significant contributions from Virender Sehwag (46), Dinesh Karthik (44) and Virat Kohli (31).
Inserted in by Jacques Kallis, India’s intentions of piling up a huge total got an early setback when Herschelle Gibbs’s quick reflexes at covers sent Sachin Tendulkar packing in the second over of the match.
Sehwag and Karthik took the charge and brought up a 79-run stand in 75 balls. Sehwag continued in the way he best knows – belting Albie Morkel for two boundaries and a six in an over. He also produced a breathtaking upper-cut over the third-man region for six, as Dale Steyn, the bowler stood there nodding his head in disbelief.
After taking nine deliveries to get off the mark, Dinesh Karthik too decided to cut loose. He clobbered Wayne Parnell for thee fours in the eight over with a thumping straight drive, a heave over mid-wicket and a pull. In the very next over, he welcomed Charl Langeveldt at the crease with a lovely flick to the fence. Handy contributions from Ashish Nehra (16) and Praveen Kumar (13) got India close to the total of 300 in the end.

India reassert Test supremacy with Bhajji's fifer

He did it to Australia in 2001 and now the ‘Turbanator’ returned to shatter the Proteas’ dream of regaining their number one Test status. With less than 15 minutes to go in the match, Harbhajan Singh wrapped Morne Morkel on his pads to bowl India to an innings and 58-run victory at the Eden Gardens. With this nerve-wracking victory, India drew level in the series and held on to their Test crown.

Harbhajan Singh wrapped up a nerve-wracking victory for India by registering his 24th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

The Kolkata Test was not only crucial for Team India to reassert their Test supremacy but also to prove themselves worthy of the title of the world’s best team. Coming after an innings humiliation in Nagpur, the Indians not only fought the strong Proteas but also the weather and injuries to their key players to register one of the most thrilling Test victories.
But on their way to the win, the Indians had to battle hard against one man, who stood between them and victory like the Rock of Gibraltar. Hashim Amla batted for 394 balls for his knock of 123 and emerged undefeated in the end. The South African batsman followed his Nagpur double hundred with a century in both innings of the Kolkata Test. For his 494 runs in the series, losing his wicket only once, Hashim Amla was the most deserving player of the series and the man of the match.
The absence of injured pace spearhead Zaheer Khan meant other bowlers had to rise to the occasion if India were to seize the moment. And they didn’t disappoint. Together, they made sure Hashim Amla’s dogged resilience goes in vain. Amla was the only man who stood tall for the Proteas, as his teammates left him stranded.
The spin-duo Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra bowled their heart out on the track with minimum of assistance. They combined guile and discipline, sharing eight wickets between them in the second innings.
Harbhajan troubled the batsmen with tossed up deliveries and the bounce they generated. The hard work paid rich dividends and the off-spinner walked away with the 24th five-wicket haul of his Test career.
First, he dismissed Ashwell Prince with a flighted delivery, as the batsman obliged with a dolly to Ishant Sharma at mid-off. JP Duminy’s dreaded run continued when he was deceived by Harbhajan with one that spun into the left-hander. Soon enough, the off-spinner ended Dale Steyn’s dodgy stay at the wicket by wrapping him on his pads with a tossed up straighter delivery.

Hashim Amla, easily the best batsman of the series with 494 runs, remained undefeated at 123.

Amit Mishra too bowled beautifully and maintained a good line. He was a tad unfortunate as a few edges fell short of the close-in fielders. However, the leggie struck with a googly and sent AB de Villiers packing. This was Mishra’s third scalp of the innings, after he had gotten rid of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis on day-four. It’s fair to say that the Indian bowlers would have finished things off much earlier, had they got a little more support from the fielders. The bowlers hardly got any advantage of having men all around the bat, as catches kept going down.
First, Murali Vijay, at forward short-leg was slow to react to an edge of Prince’s bat, then it was Suresh Raina who grassed a simple chance at gully and Badrinath failed to hold on to one at silly point.
Amidst all the chaos, Hashim Amla stood tall, unflustered and determined, notching up a dogged century. Amla was as focused as a monk. He was completely unaffected by whatever was happening around him and just concentrated on his job. At no point did he look like getting out.
The Proteas batsman was an epitome of patience. Amla refused to fall for any bait the Indian bowlers tempted him with and left alone everything that pitched out of his reach.
Amla found help from the other end in form of Parnell and then Morne Morkel. While Parnell hung in there for 80 balls to put up 70 runs with Amla, Morkel soaked in all the pressure and fought on for 60 deliveries to keep the Indians at bay until Harbhajan dismissed him with a beauty.
India felt the absence of Zaheer Khan when Ishant was completely wayward and ineffective with the new ball. The lanky pacer struggled with his rhythm and it showed in his erring line and length. He also pleaded guilty of giving away extra runs by way of wides and no-balls. Later, Ishant made amends with the wickets of Parnell and Paul Harris. Immediately after the tea interval, he had Parnell caught by Harbhajan at mid-on and then Harris by Dinesh Karthik in slip.

Rain Gods save the day for Proteas

It was a frustrating day in office for the Indians as only two and half hours of play could be possible on day-four, thanks to rain and bad light. South Africa, on the other hand, couldn’t have asked for a more timely intervention, as they ended the day at 115 for 3.

Amit Mishra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, bagging the crucial wickets of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

With seven wickets left to win the match and retain the Test crown, Dhoni and his boys would be hoping for a bright and sunny final day.
First, overnight rain and foggy conditions delayed the start of play by 90 minutes, which meant only 14 overs were sent down in the first session. Post lunch, the rain gods once again played spoilsport just as the Indian spinners were beginning to look dangerous. It ensured that Hashim Amla (49*) and Ashwell Prince (0*) returned to the pavilion without having to face Indian bowling attack for the day.
Dhoni started off the proceedings with Harbhajan Singh and the off-spinner straight away got a bit of turn and bounce from the track. He bowled particularly well to Graeme Smith (20), getting the ball to drift away from the left-hander. Harbhajan did gain an upper hand over the Proteas skipper but without men in catching position, all he could do was stand and watch the edges flying all over the place.
Zaheer Khan, who opened the attack with Harbhajan bowled smartly, maintaining the off-stump line and varying the length. Having dismissed Smith both times in the series, the Indian pacer was at him again. He beat the left-hander frequently with some beautiful out-swingers before dropping in one that came into him.
But to Smith’s credit, he negotiated Zaheer with immense caution and made sure he didn’t repeat his mistakes. Smith often stood up for South Africa and saved matches from precarious situations and that’s exactly what his team required from him.
However, Amit Mishra had other plans. The very first delivery that the leg-spinner bowled turned into the southpaw and caught him plumb in front of the wickets.

Hashim Amla negotiated the Indian spinners with aplomb and held fort for the Proteas with an unbeaten 49.

Debutant Alviro Petersen (21) was sent back shortly after the lunch break by Harbhajan, as Badrinath took a good reflex catch at short-leg. The ball turned into Petersen after pitching on the off-stump and got a leading edge.
Harbhajan almost got Hashim Amla out in a similar fashion when Murali Vijay at backward short-leg was a tad slow in reacting to the edge. The lapse could well prove costly to the home side, considering Amla’s prolific run in the series.
Amla looked confident as he faced Indian bowlers with aplomb. His fine touch and unwavering temperament was evident in the way he treated the good balls with respect and played some fine drives and flicks to punish the bad balls to the fence.
Ishant Sharma tried to up the tempo for India with a spell of short-pitched deliveries, like he did in the first innings. However, this time it became way too predictable for quality batsmen like Jacques Kallis (20) and Amla, as they went about pulling and hooking with ease.
While Harbhajan kept the batsmen thinking, Mishra was the pick of the Indian bowlers. There was a time when he bowled quite slow through the air and Kallis and Amla were happy to play him on the backfoot.
Dhoni’s decision to change the bowling end for his leg-spinner paid off immediately. Mishra produced an absolute ripper to send the dangerous Kallis packing. The ball was pitched up on the middle stump and turned viciously away from the batsman, taking a faint edge. Dhoni took a smart catch to send back one of South Africa’s mainstay.
Soon after Ashwell Prince walked out to bat, heavens opened and put paid to Dhoni’s plans of making further inroads into South African innings.