 Gwalior: Sachin Tendulkar hit a record unbeaten double century as India scripted an emphatic 153-run win over South Africa in the second one-day international (ODI) at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium here on February 24 and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Tendulkar's 200 not out in 147 deliveries, with 25 fours and three sixes, guided India to 401 for three in 50 overs. In reply, South Africa were bowled out for 248 runs in 42.5 overs as A.B. de Villiers remained unbeaten on 114.
Sreesanth bagged three wickets while Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan got two wickets each. Man of the Match Tendulkar was unstoppable right from the start and carried his bat through to score the first ever double century in this form of cricket. En route to his double century, Tendulkar went past the previous best of Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194).
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck a cameo of 68 off 35 balls while Dinesh Karthik made 79. After being run out cheaply in the first ODI in Jaipur, Tendulkar looked set for the big innings right from the start. His innings was studded with a dazzling array of his trademark boundaries, the wristy shots.
He got to his 50 off only 37 balls with his ninth boundary and then hammered five more to reach his 46th ODI century in 90 deliveries. Karthik and Dhoni provided able support to Tendulkar. Karthik smashed four boundaries and three sixes in his 85-ball 79-run knock. He fell after he mistimed a pull shot to Herschelle Gibbs. Yusuf Pathan then stepped on the accelerator with 36 off 23 balls, before Dhoni's onslaught.
Dhoni was remarkable in his strokeplay and displayed some power hitting with his four sixes and seven fours. South Africa, who hold the world record of the highest ODI chase, started the reply in a poor way as they lost Herschelle Gibbs (7) in the third over and there on kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.
Pinch-hitter Roelof van der Merwe (12) and Hashim Amla (34) also did not last long before being picked up by Sreesanth. Skipper Jacques Kallis (11) dragged a Ashish Nehra delivery onto his stumps while Alviro Petersen (11) was bowled by Jadeja and Jean Paul Duminy was trapped in front by Pathan. De Villiers played a brave innings but hardly got any support from the other end.
He hit 13 fours and two sixes in his 101-ball innings but not enough to get South Africa through. With Wayne Parnell (18), De Villiers put up some resistance with the 77-run stand for the eight wickets but it was little too late. India and South Africa will play the third and now inconsequential ODI in Ahmedabad.
|
