If you missed the masterful innings of the Little Master this morning at Christchurch, chances are you are kicking yourself. As the Mater Blaster helped himself to a run fest that ended only when he retired hurt for stomach cramps, it was the Sachin Tendulkar of old: unstoppable, relentless, assured and quite simply marvellous! You saw that innings to realize that the best batsman in international cricket is nowhere close to being done! The cricket news for India was not good this morning, when Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir went cheaply.

But what that did was set the stage for Sachin to light up the stadium with his own special brand of fireworks: 16 fours and 5 sixes in his total of 163. That score of 163 seemed at one point to be edging close to breaking the world record for highest individual score in one day cricket when stomach cramps forced the Little Champion to retire hurt. He played with the effortless ease of player fifteen years younger than the 35 year old that he is. He would have made a point to himself as well this century; his first in New Zealand!

Such fluency and ease of scoring perhaps inspired his team mate Yuvraj Singh who also seemed to be at his destructive best with his score of 87 off 60 deliveries studded with 10 fours and 6 sixes. Skipper Dhoni not to be left behind, made a cracking 68 from 58 balls which included 5 fours and 2 sixes. The surprise package from Suresh Raina in his impactful 38 runs off just 18 balls also included 5 sixes.

The rampaging Indians destroyed the bowling figures of the Kiwis, who would have watched in despair as the Indian batsmen set about the bowling mercilessly! Tim Southee took the most punishment as his 10 overs went for 105 runs, though he did makes some amends is giving the Kiwis some hope with his spirited batting as well.  Jesse Ryder conceded 56 from just five overs but made up for it with his 105 off 108 balls. Kyle Mills picked up two for 58 while Jacob Oram proved the most economical, going for 34 in eight overs.

India went on to win the match by 58 runs which puts them in an unassailable lead in this 5 ODI series.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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