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| Sunday, 4 January 2004 |
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Shares record 353-runs with Laxman (178) in 4th wicket stand Tendulkar puts India in control SYDNEY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Sachin Tendulkar made an unbeaten double century as India posted a record total of 650 for five on the second day of the fourth and final Test with Australia on Saturday. Tendulkar made a career-best 220 not out and shared in a record 353-run partnership with Vangipurappu Laxman (178) as the tourists seized control of the series decider at the Sydney Cricket Ground. India's unfinished total was the highest ever score by a visiting team in Australia and left them in firm control of the series. India, who have never won a series in Australia, piled on 366 runs in the day for the loss of just two wickets to effectively ensure they will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Australia won the third Test in Melbourne to level the series at 1-1 but need to win the final match to take the trophy back from India. Badly out of form coming into the match, Tendulkar produced possibly the finest innings of his career to steal the limelight from Waugh in his farewell to international cricket. He resumed on 73 and reached his 32nd hundred before lunch to join Waugh in second place on the list of all-time century-makers but was in the mood for more and after being dropped by leg spinner Stuart MacGill on 177 went on to post his third double-century after tea. He then surpassed his previous highest test score of 217, made against New Zealand in 1999, in the penultimate over of the day. Laxman scored a century in the second test in Adelaide when he shared a 303-run partnership with Rahul Dravid that won the match for India but showed his appetite had not diminished. He started the day on 29 and added 65 in the first session then brought up his seventh test hundred before he was bowled by Jason Gillespie in the final session. The pair's 353-run stand set a record for the highest test partnership by a visiting team in Australia. The only pair to have made a bigger total in Australia was the 405 by Don Bradman and Sid Barnes against England in 1947. Laxman, who also shared an Indian record partnership of 376 with Dravid against Australia in Calcutta in 2001, joined Bradman, Javed Miandad and Herschelle Gibbs as the only players to be involved in three triple-century partnerships. India lost a second wicket before stumps when captain Saurav Ganguly was bowled by Brett Lee for 16 but wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel kept the runs flowing with an unbeaten 45. Waugh, hoping to end his career on a high, tried seven different bowlers in an attempt to break the partnership. Tendulkar had not scored a test century since November 2002 and had managed just 82 runs in the three previous matches of the series but made amends with a vintage display. He became just the fourth player to make 9,000 runs when he passed 36 on Friday and is now just two centuries short of Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34, a mark the 30-year-old seems destined to eclipse. INDIA 1ST INNINGS A.Chopra b Lee 45 V.Sehwag c Gilchrist b Gillespie 72 R.Dravid lbw b Gillespie 38 S.Tendulkar not out 220 V.Laxman b Gillespie 178 S.Ganguly b Lee 16 P.Patel not out 45 Extras (b-4, lb-5, w-3, nb-24) 36 TOTAL (for five wickets) 650 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-123, 2-128, 3-194, 4-547, 5-570 STILL TO BAT: A.Agarkar, A.Kumble, M.Kartik, I.Pathan BOWLING: Lee 36-5-169-2 (nb-17), Gillespie 41-11-112-3 (nb-5 w-3), Bracken 37-13-97-0, MacGill 38-5-146-0 (nb-2), Waugh 2-0-6-0, Katich 17-1-84-0, Martyn 9-1-27-0. Australia: S.Waugh (captain), J.Langer, M.Hayden, R.Ponting, A.Gilchrist, D.Martyn, S.Katich, B.Lee, J.Gillespie,N.Bracken, S.MacGill. |
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