After 40 years of one-day international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar rewrote history by breaking the 200-run barrier on a day when batting records and the South African bowlers took a beating, in Gwalior.
When he turned Wayne Parnell to square leg for two in the 46th over, Tendulkar eclipsed Saeed Anwar and Charles Coventry's record for the highest individual score of 194, but his muted reaction on reaching that milestone confirmed that he had his sights set on a bigger accomplishment.
It was that kind of day - the way Tendulkar started gave the impression that he was in the zone. Virender Sehwag perished early, but Dinesh Karthik settled into the support role perfectly. Karthik brought up his personal best, and helped Tendulkar add 194 for the second wicket, before Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni played destructive cameos to torment the visitors. Dhoni brought up his 50 off 28 balls with a violent hoick over long off in the penultimate over, with Tendulkar still one run away from the 200, but the special moment came in the final over of the innings from Charl Langeveldt.
After losing the toss the South Africans were chasing leather as the Indians looked set to score well in excess of the 298 they managed in the first ODI in Jaipur. The early loss of Virender Sehwag didn't hurt the home side at all as Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik brought up brisk half-centuries on a road of a pitch with an array of elegant strokes to keep the crowd entertained.
The margin for error was very little on a pitch where the ball was coming on to the bat very easily. Tendulkar and Karthik had the freedom to drive through the line and each time they pierced the gaps, there was a minimum of two runs for the taking. The racy, yet bumpy outfield only made things tougher for the fielding side.
Only an error on the part of the batsman could have yielded a wicket, and that's what happened to Sehwag. Aiming to hit Wayne Parnell down the ground, he took his bottom hand off the bat at the point of contact, and Dale Steyn took the catch above his head at third man.
Tendulkar was in his element, flicking off his pads and driving neatly through the off side using the pace of the ball. He began by squirting out a half-volley from Parnell through the covers before flicking the next one off his pads past midwicket. Steyn tried to bowl it a bit shorter but Tendulkar responded by pulling him over midwicket and slashing over point. Even the introduction of spin didn't help as Tendulkar gently tucked Roelof van der Merwe off his pads past short fine leg to bring up his fifty, off just 37 balls.
Seeing that there was no movement off the seam, Jacques Kallis took off a slip and placed a short cover. Pretty soon, he abandoned the idea of having a slip, placing him at short midwicket, hoping for one of them to chip in the air off the drive. He then placed a sweeper cover, which was more of a defensive ploy. But it didn't yield immediate results.
Karthik too made merry with shots on both sides of the wicket. Like Tendulkar, he began with consecutive fours off Parnell and kept rotating the strike. His fifty - off 59 balls - wasn't as quick as Tendulkar's but their partnership set up a perfect platform for India.
