Tendulkar hits 50th Test century
Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday became the first
player to hit 50 centuries in Test matches when he played a defiant
innings on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa at
SuperSport Park.
Tendulkar, 37, reached the landmark 56 minutes after tea when he
drove fast bowler Dale Steyn through the covers after batting for 258
minutes and facing 197 balls.
No other batsman has scored more than 39 Test centuries.
It was an almost flawless innings by the Indian batting maestro as he
and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a valiant effort to save their
team from an innings defeat. When he reached his century he and Dhoni
had put on an unbeaten 160 for the seventh wicket and were within 47
runs of making South Africa batting again. Tendulkar, who has been
playing international cricket for 21 years, has hit centuries against
every other Test nation.
His tally is made up of 11 hundreds against Australia, nine against
Sri Lanka, seven against England, six against South Africa, five against
Bangladesh, four against New Zealand, three each against West Indies and
Zimbabwe and two against Pakistan.
AFP |