Heartbreak as Tendulkar misses 100th ton

Sachin Tendulkar fell agonisingly short of an unprecedented 100th hundred while Ravichandran Ashwin hit a maiden century as the third Test between India and the West Indies headed for a draw on Friday. Tendulkar scored a superb 94 and Ashwin a robust 103 in only his third Test before India were bowled out for 482 in their first innings in reply to the West Indies' 590 on the penultimate day.
The tourists were 81-2 in their second innings at stumps for an overall lead of 189 with eight wickets in hand, with teenager Kraigg Brathwaite (34 not out) and Darren Bravo (27 not out) at the crease. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who opened the attack, removed Adrian Barath (three) and Kirk Edwards (17).
India, needing 391 to avoid the follow-on, were struggling at 331-6 before Virat Kohli (52) and Ashwin added 97 valuable runs for the seventh wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Ashwin also became the third Indian after Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar to grab five wickets in an innings and score a century in the same Test. He hit two sixes and 15 fours in his 118-ball knock. It was the first time in the history of Test cricket that 11 half-centuries or more were scored in the first innings of a match, with the West Indies making six and India five.
Tendulkar looked set to complete a century of centuries as he had been timing the ball remarkably well before he attempted to drive paceman Ravi Rampaul on the up and was caught by Darren Sammy at second slip. While the West Indies celebrated the huge success, the "Little Master" walked back dejectedly and nearly 15,000 cheering spectators suddenly fell silent at the 32,000-capacity stadium.
With the spectators applauding each run from Tendulkar and chanting "Sa-chin, Sachin", the batting star started the day with an attacking stroke when he flicked Rampaul past square-leg for a four in the opening over. Tendulkar, 67 overnight, continued to play attractive shots as he straight-drove Rampaul for a four and then uppercut paceman Fidel Edwards over the slips for a six to move into the nineties before the disaster struck.
He smashed two sixes and eight fours in his 153-ball knock. Skipper Sammy's words came true a day after he said his team hoped to break a "few Indian hearts" by trying to get local hero Tendulkar out early with a disciplined bowling performance. In fact, his team broke millions of hearts. It was the 10th time in an illustrious 184-Test career that Tendulkar had fallen in the nineties.
SCOREBOARD West Indies 1st innings 590 (D. Bravo 166, K. Edwards 86, K. Powell 81, K. Brathwaite 68, A. Barath 62, M. Samuels 61; R. Ashwin 5-156)

=====================================

India 1st innings (overnight 281-3):

=====================================

G. Gambhir c Baugh b Rampaul       55

V. Sehwag b Sammy                  37

R. Dravid b Samuels                82

S. Tendulkar c Sammy b Rampaul     94

V. Laxman c Samuels b F. Edwards   32

V. Kohli c F. Edwards b Bishoo     52

MS Dhoni b Sammy                    8

R. Ashwin c Barath b Rampaul      103

I. Sharma c Bravo b Samuels         5

V. Aaron b Samuels                  4

P. Ojha not out                     0

-------------------------------------

Extras: (b1, nb5, w4)              10

Total: (all out; 135.4 overs)     482

=====================================

Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-138, 3-224, 4-287, 5-322, 6-331, 7-428, 8-455, 9-463, 10-482.
Bowling: F. Edwards 28-4-116-1 (nb5), Rampaul 24.4-3-95-3 (w2), Sammy 26-3-90-2 (w2), Samuels 17-0-74-3, Bishoo 40-6-106-1.

=====================================

West Indies 2nd innings:

=====================================

A. Barath c Laxman b Ojha           3

K. Brathwaite not out              34

K. Edwards st Dhoni b Ojha         17

D. Bravo not out                   27

-------------------------------------

Total: (for 2 wkts; 34 overs)      81

=====================================