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COMMENT by Elmo Rodrigopulle

Indian batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar erupted volcano like to devastate and destroy Pakistan in their World Cup game at the Centurion under lights on Saturday night.

The little man played what could be best described as a dream innings and the innings of the tournament.

When Pakistan made 273 for 7 in their 50 overs, one of the leading Indian batsmen had to make a big score if India were to stay in with a chance. And that knock came in telling fashion from the man described as the closest to that batting genius Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin the 'tornado' Tendulkar.

Pakistan's three feared pacemen Akhtar, Akram and Younis were made to look ordinary as Tendulkar launched out on a savage attack. They lost their usual rhythm and were unable to bowl line, length, seam, swing or reverse swing as the little man's bat did the talking and the commanding.

Strokes cascaded from his bat in style and elegance. There was no wild slogging. Instead what one saw was strokes from the book. The footwork, timing and free flow of the bat were amazing.

The square cut for six, the exquisite off drives, the beautifully struck shots through mid wicket, the straight and on drives were strokes to behold. This was a once in a life time innings.

It was his dash and daring that paved the way for this excellent Indian win. The much vaunted Akhtar, Akram and Younis were non plussed as Tendulkar launched into them with arrogance. It was a virtuoso knock that had the full house lapping every moment of it.

Akhtar better known as the 'Rawalpindi Express' was made to look pedestrian. The faster he bowled and Akram and Younis too, the harder he hit them with telling force, that everytime the ball left his bat it sped to the boundary.

It was a pity that he suffered cramps during the latter stages of his innings. Had it not happened, he would have led them to victory much earlier. It was a pity that he missed out on a century. He is in line for the 'Most valuable player' of the series award.

Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar's century was overshadowed by Tendulkar's blast. Anwar played a responsible innings to steer his side to that imposing score. But it looked paltry as the Indian batsmen with Tendulkar showing the way followed by Sehwag, Kaif, Dravid and Singh galloped to victory.

The Indian-Pakistan clash which occurs very rarely is a life or death affair. The winners are heroes and the losers are left to rue their defeat. India has proved their immense strength allround and this victory should spur them on to having a tilt at the World Cup which they won in England in 1983 under Kapil Dev.

Lankans still in the hunt

At the time of writing, Sri Lanka's chances of entering the super sixes is still in the balance. The result of their game against South Africa will finally tell their future. Had the Lankans beaten the Kenyans they would have been singing and celebrating their entry into the super sixes. But that unexpected defeat has made the final game against South Africa a must win situation for them.

The gut feeling is that it will not be easy beating South Africa who will have every home advantage. If the Lankans can bring out the lion in them, play as we know they can, then there is no reason why they should not be celebrating their entry into the super sixes. Lanka's win against the West Indies was not a convincing one. Once on top they must try and rub the opponents in and not allow them to recover and fire.

For this to happen the must stay focused and aim for victory forgetting all other considerations. In the Windies game Jayasuriya scored and the Lankans won. They will be looking to Jayasuriya to show them the way again. The Lankan openers and the early batsmen should not look for risky singles, especially in the early overs and run themselves out. It is stupid to do so.

The adjudicator in the Windies-Sri Lanka game would not have been faulted had he made Dilhara Fernando the Man-of-the-Match. He made the biggest influence in Sri Lanka's victory when he felled the dangerous looking Ramnaresh Sarvan and next ball sent back skipper Carl Hooper.

By saying this we are certainly not trying to belittle Chaminda Vaas' splendid effort.

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