India were 650 for five at the close of the second day of the third cricket Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. Sachin Tendulkar scored his 32nd Test century and was unbeaten on 220 with Parthiv Patel not out 45.
Tendulkar savoured his first Test century for 14 months as India pounded Australia with runs early on. With languid V.V.S. Laxman in tow, the ‘Little Master,’ playing in his 111th Test, went on from his overnight 73 to join Steve Waugh on 32 Test centuries, just two behind all-time leader Sunil Gavaskar.
It was his seventh Test hundred against Australia. Tendulkar looked to the heavens after scampering through for a single off Simon Katich to raise his hundred and was embraced by Laxman.
The pair were breaking the hearts of the innocuous Australian bowlers in the series-deciding Test as they claimed the fourth-wicket partnership record against Australia of 159 between Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath at Bangalore in 1979-80.
The pair had put on 193 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket. At lunch, India were well on the way to building a huge first innings score and were 387 for three with Tendulkar unconquered on 110 off 245 balls and Laxman not out 94 off 159 balls.
Laxman was approaching his seventh Test century and fourth against Australia. He had hit 18 boundaries or 72 runs out of his 94.
Laxman, who scored 167 in his last appearance at the SCG four years ago, narrowly survived a run-out in the second-last over before lunch when he ran halfway down the pitch before being sent back by Tendulkar and just beat home Stuart MacGill’s throw.
Tendulkar was finishing a largely unproductive series on a high after a run of batting failures in the earlier Tests — 0, 1, 37, 0 and 44 — and scoring only 153 runs in five Tests at an average of 17 throughout 2003.
On Friday when he reached 36 Tendulkar became only the fourth player to pass 9 000 runs in Test cricket.
Tendulkar ranks behind only Australians Allan Border (11,174) and Steve Waugh (10,807) and fellow Indian Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) in most Test runs scored.
Tendulkar’s last century was 176 against the West Indies in Calcutta in November 2002. The pair were particularly severe on pace bowler Brett Lee, who
was carted for 29 runs in his opening four overs of the day before he was taken out of the attack by veteran skipper Steve Waugh, who is playing in his last Test match. – Sapa-AFP