By Daniel Brettig
November 6th 2009 @ 10:06am
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Australians survive Tendulkar special
An understrength Australia ran headlong into Sachin Tendulkar in full flight and lived to tell the tale, claiming a three-run victory in an extraordinary fifth limited-overs match at Hyderabad.
Lacking four members of their first-choice bowling attack, the Australians were powerless to prevent Tendulkar from soaring to 175 (141 balls, 19 fours, four sixes), an epic innings that took India so close to their biggest target.
At one point they required 19 from 18 balls with four wickets in hand, but Tendulkar’s exit at the hands of composed debutant Clint McKay (3-59) and Shane Watson (3-47) ushered a late collapse of 4-15 to end the innings at 347 and hand the tourists a 3-2 lead in the series with two to play.
In recent years 36-year-old Tendulkar had become more an accumulator than dasher but this performance rivalled the batting heights of his youth.
He lacked support until the arrival of Suresh Raina (59), who combined with the “little master” for a stand of 137 that tore the Australians to shreds – they dearly missed Peter Siddle, Brett Lee, James Hopes and the rested Mitchell Johnson, and finished up needing every last run their batsmen added.
Openers Watson (93, 89 balls, nine fours, three sixes) and Shaun Marsh (112, 112 balls, eight fours, two sixes) stormed off the mark.
Together they added 145, a stand dominated by Watson before Marsh grew in confidence and fluency.
Captain Ricky Ponting (45), heavy-hitter Cameron White (57, 33 balls, five sixes) and Mike Hussey (31no, 22 balls) also contributed.
Marsh’s maiden international century mirrored that of his father Geoffrey, who also notched three figures for the first time against India, at Sydney in 1986.
Australia’s 13 sixes (eds: correct) were the most struck by any team against India.
A chase of more than 350 left precious little margin for error or dithering and, in the early overs, Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar were sharp.
They had 60 on the board inside eight overs and evidence the Australians were pressured came when Doug Bollinger turfed Sehwag at fine leg off Hilfenhaus.
Sehwag’s impetuosity soon afforded Bollinger a second chance from the same bowler and he capitalised to send Sehwag back for 38.
Tendulkar had endured a quiet series to now, so much so that the Australians had been asked to discuss how they managed to keep him down.
But as another packed crowd roared approval, Tendulkar seemingly shed years off his frame and his game, carving up the bowlers like it was 1999, not 2009.
Notching his 17,000th limited-overs run early in the piece, he flew from 68 to 92 in the space of two overs, thrashing three sixes and a boundary from Watson and Nathan Hauritz.
Regular wickets were falling at the other end, McKay making his presence felt by snagging Gautam Gambhir then Dhoni, the latter to a superlative low catch at point by Adam Voges.
Raina survived a drop by first slip White before scoring, then stuck around, first to see Tendulkar to an 81-ball century, his 45th in one-day matches, then to take India to within a tantalising distance of the target.
Raina’s exit to a fine tumbling catch by Graham Manou, running back, was followed by a duck for Harbhajan Singh, who feathered Watson to the ‘keeper.
Ravindra Jadeja (23) appeared capable of taking India home, but Tendulkar’s loss signalled a panic by the tail that saw the last four wickets evaporate.
Ponting was glowing in his praise of his ragtag team for not cracking under Tendulkar’s pressure.
“We’re under a lot of pressure in this series because of the injuries we’ve had, and the guys are standing up and getting the job done,” he said.
“The young guys are coping really well.”
Leading scorers in one-day cricket
After Sachin Tendulkar of India surpassed the 17,000-run mark in the fifth
match against Australia here on Thursday
(batsman, country, matches, runs, centuries):
Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 435 17,168 45
Sanath Jayasuriya (SRI) 441 13,377 28
Ricky Ponting (AUS) 329 12,286 28
Inzamam-ul Haq (PAK) 378 11,739 10
Sourav Ganguly (IND) 311 11,363 22
Rahul Dravid (IND) 339 10,765 12
Brian Lara (WIS) 299 10,405 16
Jacques Kallis (RSA) 294 10,328 16
(Tendulkar, Jayasuriya and Ponting are the only ones in the list still
playing international cricket)
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(9)
davido said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Anyone see the pain of losing etched on Tendulkar’s face. 17000 runs is a great acheivement but really not due to anything but the sheer number of games he has played.
india are up against it now. Dhoni looked like his dog had been run over. The Indian ego really took a beating last night.
prowling panther said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:06am | Report comment
great game… would loved to have watched it live
Jacks Dad said | November 6th 2009 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
It was a great game, in fact one of the best limited overs matches ever! Its a BIG call however if you put it in perspective, spectacular batting by all the Aussie top order & a magical display by the little master, with a great effort by very much a second string aussie bowling attack, it was a remarkable result, at least we still dominate one format of the game.
To Davido, yes Tendulker’s haul is due to the enormous number of ODI matches he has played, but your statement implies that he isn’t one of the finest batsmen ever, which he undoubtedly is. You don’t get to play 400+ matches & score over 17000runs because your “just making up the numbers.”
vinay verma said | November 6th 2009 @ 2:49pm | Report comment
Well said,Jack’s Dad…However we must not be too harsh on Davido..he is passionate about his Ausiie team.And so he should be. If only he would admit that Ponting is doing a good job!
Davido how about if the series is locked at 3 all and India sneak home by 1 run. What will that make you feel…I suggest like Dhoni after his “dog was run over” Dont worry as they say every dog has its day. And lighten up; I am stirring you.
davido said | November 6th 2009 @ 4:11pm | Report comment
Wasnt implying that Tendulkar not one of all time greats. He certainly is.
But if you look at why he is so massively far ahead of the competition in Total ODI runs, it must in some part due to having played a LOT of games.
As to the series, if India draw level at the next match up in Sikkim I am booking a ticket to Mumbai! You can forget the ashes, this rivalry is now the biggest thing in cricket.
marees said | November 6th 2009 @ 7:15pm | Report comment
… played a lot and also opened a lot (from his 85th ODI onwards I think). But again he opens because he is the best batsman in the team(for all the 2 decades which he has been playing!). He is definitely the Bradman of ODI. I dont see anybody breaking his ODI record, what with T20, distractions, packed schedules, injuries and all that.
davido said | November 6th 2009 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
He is definitely not the Bradman of ODI. Bradman was special because he averaged so much more than his nearest contemporary. How many people know Bradman’s average? How many people know how many runs he scored? Quantity, while important, should never triumph quality.
Sachin does not average any more than the other leading players of ODI and a lot less in some cases.
It must also be noted that a lot (the majority) of his runs were scored on hugely run-favourable sub-continent pitches. Moreover, most of his runs were scored in virtually pointless money making fixtures – sort of like this series really.
Finally, where the pressure really counts, as a captain he has never made the grade. As a ODI captain he lost almost two games for every game that he won, despite winning a massive 57% of the tosses as captain. He also never won a world cup… something he might never do.
marees said | November 8th 2009 @ 3:35am | Report comment
If we just take runs scored in SA, AUS and ENG into consideration, he has the 3rd best batting average (behind richards and ponting) for those who have a strike rate better than 80 and scored atleast 3000 runs in these conditions. not bad.
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;host=1;host=2;host=3;orderby=batting_average;qualmin2=.8;qualmin3=3000;qualval2=batting_strike_rate;qualval3=runs;size=200;template=results;type=batting
The reason I referred to Brdaman was nobody has any chance or hope to beat his records. Similarly I feel nobody can hope to overhaul Mount Sachin because nobody in future can hope to survive for 20 years. Of the current lot only Ponting can hope to overhaul Sachins’s total runs. But I doubt if that will happen…
Dave1 said | November 6th 2009 @ 4:39pm | Report comment
Tendulkar is 13th on the all time top average list
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/282911.html