Sachin Tendulkar, take a bow
If you ever wanted to see a case of an outstanding performance in a losing effort step forward Sachin Tendulkar. In an incredible match Tendulkar scored 175 off only 141 balls against the Aussies at Hyderabad in the 5th ODI of the series, but still lost! Amazingly, although his knock was the 17th best ODI score in history, it wasn’t Tendulkar’s best as he once scored 186* against the Kiwis, also at Hyderabad. Seems like he likes that place!
What a spectacle of cricket it was though. Before the match the Aussies were moaning of injuries and how it would be spectacular if they could achieve a series win, but those players left put in an outstanding performance last night. Shaun Marsh scored his maiden century for the Aussies after Shane Watson had belted the ball around for 93 runs. This then allowed Cameron White and Mike Hussey to go a bit crazy at the death of the innings, smashing the ball away like a hot potato to reach a terrific score of 350-4.
At one point the Indian team were staring right down the barrel at 162-4 but with the diminutive Tendulkar at the crease the home fans still kept faith. Debutant Clint McKay did well to get them in that position, removing the dangerous Gautam Gambhir and M S Dhoni. Sachin needed someone to stick with him and Suresh Raina provided this with a run a ball 59 until Watson capped a fine performance with two wickets in an over.
But Tendulkar was still there and it wasn’t until McKay came back late on that his delightful innings was ended, and he deserved every single round of applause he was given. His innings was like a beautiful painting, elegant strokes held it together, with vibrant displays and powerful efforts providing the wow factor. In the end he would’ve been kicking himself to get out when he did, only needing 19 off 18 balls, but in the end it wasn’t to be as they lost by three runs.
Plenty of decent cameos in this game, but one thing is for sure when Tendulkar’s in town there’s sure to be fireworks!
