Cricket:Sachin Tendulkar's sparkling 76 secured India's five-wicket victory in the first Test against West Indies in New Delhi today while prolonging his agonising wait for his 100th international century.
Statistically the greatest cricketer with 33,000-plus runs in international cricket, Tendulkar, who passed 15,000 Test runs on Tuesday, looked set for the triple digit mark before leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo trapped him leg before.
The 38-year-old batsman departed after a fluent 148-ball knock, studded with 10 crisp boundaries, but not before laying the foundation for a much-needed win for India, who lost their top Test ranking after a 4-0 whitewash in England.
VVS Laxman (58 not out) also chipped in with a half-century as India, resuming on 152 for two wickets, chased down the 276-run victory target just after the lunch break with the loss of five wickets.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named man of the match for his nine-wicket haul in his debut Test, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with seven wickets.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was naturally delighted with the performance of the team’s relatively inexperienced bowling unit.
“It was not an easy wicket to get the batsmen out. Ojha bowled really well in the first innings and Ashwin in the second innings,” he said.
“It was not that Ashwin got a lot out of the wicket. It was his variations that helped him. He was flighting the ball nicely and at the same time he got the carrom-ball and the top-spinner which also worked.”
West Indies badly needed a couple of early breakthroughs in the bowler dominated Test where 32 wickets fell on the first three days and Fidel Edwards made early inroads when he disturbed overnight batsman Rahul Dravid’s (31) stumps in the second over
of the day.
“We always had hope... we got an early wicket before Laxman came and batted really well with Sachin. They took the game away from us,” West Indies captain Darren Sammy said.
Tendulkar found the boundary regularly and Sammy and his men were up against the skill and experience of a man whose individual Test aggregate is greater than the whole West Indies team put together.
Tendulkar brought up his 62nd Test fifty before Bishoo sent him back, much to the disappointment of the 5000-odd crowd that had gathered at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in hope of witnessing his 100th international century.