Bangladesh upstage Tendulkar's 100th 100

Cricket365
March 16, 2012

Friday saw Sachin Tendulkar end a year-long wait for his 100th international century, but his historic effort was not enough to prevent India from copping a five-wicket loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka.

A total of 289 for five on the back of Tendulkar's 114 and half-tons from Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina seemed ample against an opposition prone to poor pursuits. Ultimately, though, India came up short as the tenacious Tigers triumphed with four balls to spare.

A remarkable team effort saw Tamim Iqbal lay the foundation with a solid 70, Jahurul Islam keep up with the chase across a smooth 53 and Nasir Hossain form the backbone of the middle order with an authoritative 54, with the home stretch left in the capable hands of former captain Shakib Al Hasan and his successor Mushfiqur Rahim.

The duo were unrelenting in their approach, refusing to give up without a fight at every turn. Largely aided by some awful death bowling by Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar, who coughed up plenty of lame full tosses, Al Hasan and Rahim finished with 49 and 46 not out respectively. Collectively, they needed a mere 55 balls for their 95 runs and clubbed five telling sixes between them.

The show was truly stolen from Tendulkar, who earlier in the day welcomed the adoration of the 25,000-strong crowd and millions of fans around the world in achieving a magnificent milestone. Putting a relatively baron 12 months behind him, the veteran right-hander clouted a dozen boundaries and a solitary six during his 147-ball stay at the crease.

Critics will argue that 38-year-old should have scored Friday's runs at a quicker rate, but given the pressure and expectation weighing on his shoulders, Tendulkar was well within his rights to deploy a fair bit caution en route to three figures.

The Dhaka masses were in collective rapture as he milked the single that took him to his 100th run of the day. The relief, for fans and the individual, was obvious as all and sundry took in the magnitude of the event.

The rest of the Indian effort, however, was substandard. Kohli, true to form, should have converted his half-ton into a century and Kumar and Pathan needed to at least pitch the ball through the closing overs of the cliffhanger, while fellow seamer Ashok Dinda endured an expensive return to the ODI XI.

The result leaves defending champions India with a must-win situation against Pakistan, who have all but qualified for the tournament final already.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, will hope that Misbah-ul-Haq's men trump Mahendra Singh Dhoni and company, with the Tigers then afforded the chance to rack up success over Sri Lanka on Tuesday and thus reach the final.