NEW DELHI, India, CMC – Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his 100th international century but India still strolled to a relatively easy five-wicket win over West Indies with a day and a half to spare in the opening Test yesterday.
The batting legend, who passed 15 000 runs in Tests on Tuesday’s third day, fell for 76 after resuming the day on 33 but by then, India’s victory had been virtually assured.
Tendulkar, however, was one of three wickets to fall as India, starting the penultimate day of the Test on 152 for two, reached their target of 276, half-hour after lunch.
The 38-year-old right-hander appeared en route to the astonishing milestone when he missed a pull at leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and was lbw.
His dismissal removed any further interest in the affair at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as VVX Laxman carried India sedately to victory with an unbeaten 58.
The win was India’s first in six Tests after being swept by England during the summer.
Requiring another 124 runs to win at the start, India had an early setback when Rahul Dravid was bowled by fast bowler Fidel Edwards in the day’s fourth over after he added just one to his overnight 30.
The veteran right-hander was beaten by late in-swing from Edwards as he drove at one pitched up.
Tendulkar and Laxman then scored briskly in adding 71 off 100 balls for the fourth wicket, a partnership that put India on the brink of taking a vital 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
While Tendulkar faced 148 balls and struck 10 fours, Laxman hit six fours off 105 balls in 137 minutes at the crease. Tendulkar needed 24 balls on Wednesday to get his fifty but stepped up the tempo once he got there, tucking pacer Ravi Rampaul through square for four to carry India past the 200-run mark, before taking a cover-driven boundary off the same bowler.
He was moving into high gear when he fell to Bishoo, hit on the back leg essaying an ambitious pull, his dismissal plunging the crowd into an eerie silence.
With just 43 runs required for victory, Yuvraj Singh (18) joined Laxman to erase the deficit before he was bowled on the back foot by captain and medium pacer Darren Sammy (2-56), with the scores level.
The second Test starts in Kolkata next Monday.
