It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar
chose one of the better bowling attacks doing the rounds, to eclipse
the record for the highest score, before bringing up the first
double-hundred in ODI history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh
Stadium became the envy of cricket fans as they witnessed one of the
country's favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which
not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory. He
may have been run-out cheaply in the previous match, but nothing could
deny him today - be it bowlers, fielders, mix-ups or cramps. Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as the master unfurled all the shots in his repertoire.
At 36, Tendulkar hasn't shown signs of ageing, and his sparkling touch
in both forms of the game has ruled out all possibilities of him
checking out anytime soon. Fatigue, cramps and paucity of time have
stood in the way of batsmen going that extra mile to get to the
200-mark. Tendulkar did cramp up after crossing 150, but he didn't opt
for a runner. His experience of 20 years at the international level came
into play in this historic innings, staying at the crease from the
first ball to the last, never once losing focus. There were no chances
offered, no dropped catches, making his innings absolutely flawless.
A swirl of emotions must have run through his mind as he approached one
record after another but he ensured he was never lost in the moment. His
running between the wickets remained just as swift as it had been at
the start of the innings. The humidity in Gwalior was bound to test him
but he stood above it all and played like he owned the game, toying with
the bowling with a mix of nonchalance and brute power.
In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar
broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by
Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar, and to say that
he acknowledged his feat modestly would be an understatement. His muted
celebration on going past 194, true to style, made his innings all the
more endearing. He didn't raise his bat, merely shook hands with Mark
Boucher and simply carried on batting amid the din. Coming from a man
who is not known to showing too much emotion with the bat in hand, it
wasn't surprising. He reserved his celebrations for the magic figure of
200, which he reached in the final over with a squirt off Charl
Langeveldt past backward point. He raised his bat, took off his helmet
and looked up at the skies and it was only fitting that one-day
cricket's highest run-getter reached the landmark.
Tendulkar's innings featured strokes of the highest quality, but his
true genius was exemplified by one particular shot which rendered even
the best bowler in the world helpless. In the first over of the batting
Powerplay - taken in the 35th over - Dale Steyn fired it in the
block-hole for three deliveries outside off to keep him quiet.
Tendulkar, feeling the need to improvise, walked right across his stumps
and nonchalantly flicked him across the line, hopping in his crease on
one leg to bisect the gap at midwicket. A helpless Steyn watched the
ball speed away and merely shrugged his shoulders. There was no use
searching for excuses or venting frustrations at the temerity of that
shot. It was just that kind of afternoon for the bowlers.
It wasn't all just about the cheekiness of his shots. His timing and
placement were the hallmarks at the start of his innings. On a road of a
pitch which offered no margin of error for the bowlers, he
squeezed out full deliveries past the covers and off his pads. With no
seam movement on offer, Jacques Kallis took the slips off and placed
them in catching positions within the 15-yard circle, hoping to induce a
mistake. But Tendulkar outplayed all of them, making room to manoeuver
it past a number of green shirts. There were a minimum of two runs on
offer each time the ball was placed wide of them and the quick outfield
did the rest.
Once he got his eye in, the short boundaries and the flat pitch were too
inviting. Virender Sehwag's dismissal for 11, caught at third man, was
just an aberration as Karthik, Pathan and Dhoni traded cricket bats for
golf clubs. Driving and lofting through the line had never been this
easy. Tendulkar could have driven them inside out in his sleep.
The two century stands, with Karthik and then with Dhoni, may well get
lost in the scorecard but they were vital building blocks. Karthik
rotated the strike well in their stand of 194, struck three clean sixes
and helped himself to his career-best performance. That partnership sent
out ominous signs to the South Africans that they were in for something
massive. Add Dhoni's bludgeoning hits and scoops and you had a score in
excess of 400.
Tendulkar reached his fifty off 37 balls and his century off 90.
Ironically, he struck his first six - over long-on - when on 111. Pathan
bashed it around at the other end, clubbing full tosses and short
deliveries in his 23-ball 36, as India amassed 63 runs in the batting
Powerplay. The South African seamers made the mistake of trying to bowl
too fast and as a result, sent down too many full tosses and full
deliveries. The unplayable yorkers remained elusive and Tendulkar, who
was seeing it like a beach ball, picked the gaps, made room and
improvised.
He reached his 150 by making room to Parnell and chipping him over
midwicket with a simple bat twirl at the point of contact. The heartbreak of Hyderabad,
when his scintillating 175 all but won India the match against
Australia last year, must have lingered in his mind as he approached
that score again. A towering six over long-on later, he not only
eclipsed Kapil Dev's 175 but also looked set to wipe out his own record.
He started clutching his thighs, indicating that cramps had set in, but
even that could not stop him today.
He equalled his highest score of 186 by pulling a lollipop of a full
toss off Kallis and broke his own and India's record with a single to
square leg. Fortunately, he didn't have to do much running and played
the spectator's role for a change as Dhoni bulldozed his way to a
35-ball 68, muscling four sixes. The Dhoni bottom-hand is the strongest
in the business these days and the exhausted spectators had enough
energy left in their vocal chords to cheer him on as well.
The record of 200, however, was yet to be attained and the crowd were
desperate for Tendulkar to get the strike. Dhoni tore into Steyn for 17
off the 49th over and retained the strike for the 50th. After hammering
the first ball of the 50th for six, he shoveled a full toss to deep
midwicket where Hashim Amla made a brilliant save. Tendulkar settled for
a single and the crowd were on their feet as they watched him make
history. It was all the more fitting for another reason because it was
on this very day, back in 1988, that he and Vinod Kambli added a mammoth
664 - then a world record - in a school match.
There was to be no repeat of the 434-chase
at the Wanderers, when South Africa took guard, perhaps mentally and
physically shaken after the assault, and with a partisan crowd to
contend with. AB de Villiers'
attacking ton got completely lost in the chase as South Africa merely
went through the motions. It was all a question of how quickly India
could wrap it up.
Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Roelof van der Merwe and Jacques Kallis
all got out cheaply within the first 15 overs. de Villiers motored along
at more than a run-a-ball, and collected 13 fours and two sixes. South
Africa had to rely on the services of nine men to muster 200 - for India
one man sufficed.
Tendulkar's knock drew parallels with Brendon McCullum's frenetic 158 in
the IPL opener in Bangalore two years ago. The match was all about
individual brilliance but not a contest. While such games are
good in small doses, for one-day cricket to survive on the whole, it
needs more contests between bat and ball.
