Sachin Tendulkar can complete another landmark on Sunday by hitting his 100th international hundred as India tackle West Indies in the World Cup's final group match. Both sides have yet to make sure of their quarterfinal places, although the qualifying picture from Group B will become a lot clearer after South Africa, who are already through, face hopefuls Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday. As well as the qualification picture, most of the 38,000 fans at the Chidambaram Stadium will be anticipating Tendulkar's 100th international hundred.
The India star moved to 99 centuries (51 in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals with a majestic innings of 111 in his side's earlier group match against South Africa. However, even a 'Sachin special' was not enough to prevent a three-wicket defeat by South Africa where India, on a belting batting pitch in Nagpur, contrived to lose their last nine wickets for just 29 runs as they slumped from 267 for one to 296 all out."When you hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
Runs are set to be harder to come by in Chennai, where no batsman managed a fifty on a naturally bowler-friendly pitch during England's exciting 18-run win over the West Indies on Thursday. The good news for India is that West Indies have no equivalent of Proteas' fast bowler Dale Steyn. But their batsmen, who will be expected to bat far more sensibly in the power play after collectively losing their heads against South Africa, will do well not to under-estimate a youthful Windies attack that worried England.
Sachin's Records:
The India star moved to 99 centuries (51 in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals with a majestic innings of 111 in his side's earlier group match against South Africa. However, even a 'Sachin special' was not enough to prevent a three-wicket defeat by South Africa where India, on a belting batting pitch in Nagpur, contrived to lose their last nine wickets for just 29 runs as they slumped from 267 for one to 296 all out."When you hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
Runs are set to be harder to come by in Chennai, where no batsman managed a fifty on a naturally bowler-friendly pitch during England's exciting 18-run win over the West Indies on Thursday. The good news for India is that West Indies have no equivalent of Proteas' fast bowler Dale Steyn. But their batsmen, who will be expected to bat far more sensibly in the power play after collectively losing their heads against South Africa, will do well not to under-estimate a youthful Windies attack that worried England.
Sachin's Records:
| | Matches | Inns | Runs | N.O | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 |
| Test | 177 | 290 | 14692 | 32 | 56.94 | 53.96 | 51 | 59 |
| ODI | 449 | 438 | 17953 | 41 | 45.22 | 86.39 | 48 | 93 |
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