Tendulkar's ton fashions India's big win Thursday, February 01, 2007 11:44 [IST]
Vadodara: Sachin Tendulkar gave glimpses of his vintage form
with an imperious unbeaten century as India thrashed the West Indies by 160
runs in the fourth cricket one-dayer to clinch the series 3-1 here yesterday
(Jan 31, 2007).
The Indians rode on Tendulkar's 100 not out to rattle up an imposing 341 for
three and then bundled out the Caribbeans for 181 with more than eight overs to
spare in what turned out to be a lopsided contest at the IPCL Ground here.
It was Tendulkar's 41st one-day hundred in his 378th appearance and was aided
by a pulled six on bent knees and 10 fours in 76 balls.
The Mumbai batsman completed his hundred with a single off the last ball of the
innings, as he moved from 89 to the three-figure landmark from the last five
balls of the Indian innings.
Skipper Rahul Dravid (78) and his predecessor Sourav Ganguly (68) also came
good to make it a sublime top order performance that was backed by Mahendra Singh
Dhoni with his trademark pyrotechnics, a 20-ball 40 not out that came as icing
on the cake.
The West Indian chase was never on as Chris Gayle (6) became Ajit Agarkar's
victim, for the third time in the series, in the third over of the innings.
Zaheer Khan accounted for the in-form Shivnarine Chanderpaul (14) before Irfan
Pathan marked his return to the team with the wicket of Devon Smith (24).
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