Tendulkar’s 41st one-day century, his first after 13 innings, was the star attraction of India’s 160-run win against West Indies.
BARODA: A crunch game is usually won by the side which has its key players delivering on the D-Day. For India, fortunately, Wednesday was one such day as its most experienced, accomplished player chose the deciding one-dayer against the West Indies here to produce his best. Putting a mediocre Windies attack to sword, Sachin Tendulkar smashed a quickfire, unbeaten century as India beat the visitors by 160 runs to register one of their most convincing victories in recent times. The home team thus clinched the series 3-1 — a huge pyschological boost ahead of the World Cup.
It was not on Tendulkar’s outstanding effort — which included 10 fours and a huge six — alone on which India thrived on Wednesday. The entire top order fired as first Robin Uthappa, then Sourav Ganguly, and later skipper Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played their part in amassing a massive 341 for three in their 50 overs.
Later, the bowlers responded — more than ably supported by the fielders, especially Yuvraj Singh and substitute Suresh Raina — as Brian Lara’s team was bowled out for 181 in the 42nd over. “We didn’t bowl in the right areas, but full credit to India. They outplayed us today,” Lara confessed later.
The only glitch in a near-perfect show was an ordinary return to action by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan. The local boy failed to impress, conceding 43 runs in his seven overs, and taking a wicket that largely came about due to the brilliance of Yuvraj.
The swing bowler, though, needn’t be disheartened as his captain wasn’t too critical. “He bowled quite well. He pitched it up, created problems for batsmen, and he will have more international cricket to prove himself,” Dravid said later.
Earlier, the morning was fast turning into a nightmare for the Windies as Uthappa carried on the momentum from Chennai, where he had smashed 70 off 41 balls.
This time, the marauder was looking to go one better as he smashed two consecutive sixes off pacer Darren Powell before being dismissed. His 17-ball 28, though, again gave evidence of his terrorising prowess.
Ganguly played an innings similar to the one which helped India win the first one-dayer, and a hundred looked par for the course before a charge to Chris Gayle stopped him at 68. In walked Tendulkar, and it was here that India showed that they had learnt the lesson of the last defeat well. The two added 101 runs, and by the time Dravid holed out in the deep, the stage was set for a slog. “We had got out in the last game after getting a start. This time, we dragged our partnership a bit,” Dravid said later.
Dhoni blasted a 20-ball 40 with three sixes and a four, and Sachin timed his century perfectly as the pair made the ground looked too small during their blink-and-you-miss-a-boundary partnership of 75 off 39 balls. They ensured that India collect 64 off their last five overs, and 107 off their last 10. From then on, there was no looking back.
Tendulkar was later voted the Man of the Match and the Series as well.
While one genius enjoyed every bit of his day out in the sun, another found luck in short supply. Lara had to face the ignominy of being run out unfortunately in his last one-day innings in India as Pathan dropped striker Marlon Samuels, but accidentally deflected the ball to the stumps with the Price of Trinidad backing up too far. “It’s the first time I have been dismissed like that. It just shows that it is a game of glorious uncertainties,” quipped Lara.
For sure, the only thing certain in sport is genius, as Tendulkar demonstrated for the umpteenth time, on Wednesday.
Scorecard
India
R Uthappa c Gayle b Powell 28, S Ganguly st Ramdin b Gayle 68, R Dravid c Simmons b Samuels 78, S Tendulkar not out 100, M Dhoni not out 40
Extras (lb-14, w-9, nb-4) 27
Total (for 3 wickets in 50 overs) 341
FoW: 1-47, 2-148, 3-266
Bowling: D Powell 8-0-68-1, D Smith 8-0-49-0, R Emrit 9-0-65-0, M Samuels 9-0-51-1, C Gayle 8-0-34-1, I Bradshaw 8-0-60-0
West Indies
S Chanderpaul c Harbhajan b Khan 14, C Gayle b Agarkar 6, D Smith c Yuvraj b Pathan 24, M Samuels c Pathan b Kumble 55, B Lara run out (Pathan) 3, L Simmons run out (sub) Raina 4, D Ramdin c Kumble b Harbhajan 40, D Smith lbw b Kumble 0, R Emrit c Uthappa b Agarkar 13, I Bradshaw not out 14, D Powell c sub (SK Raina) b Yuvraj 1
Extras (lb-3, w-4) 7
Total (all out in 41.4 overs) 181
FoW: 1-10, 2-32, 3-65, 4-72, 5-83, 6-148, 7-153, 8-155, 9-180
Bowling: A Agarkar 9-0-40-2, Z Khan 6-1-21-1, I Pathan 7-0-43-1, Harbhajan 8-1-30-1, A Kumble 7-1-27-2, Yuvraj 4.4-0-17-1
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