Tendulkar ton steadies the ship

The four run-outs at crucial moments did the Indians no good. And the way Rahul Dravid (16) got out to a direct hit from Jayasuriya, he deserved to be sent back to coaching schools for basic lessons of the game.

Only Robin Singh (35) provided the batting maestro with some support with the two adding exactly 100 runs for the fifth wicket.

However, it was Tendulkar’s show all the way. He was remarkably calm in his 140-ball knock perhaps aware of his task when Saurav Ganguly, Dravid and Vinod Kambli were back in the pavilion with just 87 on the board, and hit only three fours and a six off Sanath Jayasuirya.

Tendulkar was long overdue for a big score, reaching the thirties and forties in the last couple of matches but unable to consolidate thereafter.He finally came good today to complete his 26th one-day century and seventh at Sharjah, when the team needed it most.

Ganguly (17) started the Indian innings with a bang hitting the very first ball off Vaas for a boundary. He looked very aggressive in his 24-ball knock and was not shy of going over the top despite being caught off a no-ball at mid-wicket.

His innings was short-lived though as he was surprised by a rising delivery from Vaas and offered a simple catch to Gunawardene.

Dravid (16) was his unusual self trying to score as soon as he came to the crease and played some beautiful drives before being run out in a silly manner. Trying to sneak in a single, a direct hit by Jayasuriya found him on the line but his bat hanging high in the air.

Vinod Kambli, desperately trying to cement his place in the team, looked good in his brief knock of 12 before he got involved in a terrible mix-up and got run out.

India at three down for 87 from 19 overs were precariously placed and one hoped the new sensation Yuvraj Singh would play a long innings in the company of Tendulkar who, seeing the slide at the other end, decided to play the role of the sheet anchor.

However, off-spinner Mutthiah Muralitharan had some other ideas as he tested Yuvraj outside the off-stump with some tempting deliveries before bowling him out off a top-spinner that came right into the wicket and left Yuvraj absolutely clueless. Yuvraj departed after contributing seven.

Then came the most fruitful partnership between Tendulkar and Robin that was finally responsible for India putting up a fighting total on the board.

Scoreboard:
India: Saurav Ganguly c Gunawardene b Vaas 17, Sachin Tendulkar run out 101, Rahul Dravid run out 16, Vinod Kambli run out 12, Yuvraj Singh b Muralitharan 7, Robin Singh c Atapattu b Muralitharan 35, Anil Kumble b Vaas 11, Ajit Agarkar not out 7, Vijay Dahiya run out 0, Zaheer Khan not out 1, Extras (lb-6, W-5, nb-6) 17, Total (for eight wickets in 50 overs) 224
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-64, 3-87, 4-102, 5-202, 6-205,7-222, 8-222.
Bowling: Vaas 9-0-40-2, Zoysa 10-1-48-0, Weeraratne 8-0-41-0, Muralitharan 10-0-36-2, Jayasuriya 9-0-36-0, Arnold 4-0-17-0.