Sachin Tendulkar gave ample display of his class with a scintillating 133-ball 138 as India piled up an imposing 319 for five in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka here on Monday.
The 36-year-old Tendulkar seemed to be in imperious form as he notched up his 44th One-Day International (ODI) century with a stunning display to provide the foundation for the Indian total at the Premadasa stadium.
While the champion batsman anchored the innings brilliantly, Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56), Yuvraj Singh (56 not out) and Rahul Dravid (39) were the other notable scorers for the Indians.
The Lankans have now been left with a stiff asking rate of 6.40 runs per over to win the Compaq Cup while the Indians are determined to make amends for their embarrassing defeat in the last match which saw them slip from the number one spot in the ODI rankings.
With Dinesh Karthik failing in both the matches, India opted for a new opening pair of Tendulkar and Dravid for the summit showdown and the experienced duo gave the team a flying start.
Both Tendulkar and Dravid scored the runs at a brisk pace with the Sri Lanka pacers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara not being able to make much of an impact in the early overs.
Dravid set the tempo by cracking Kulasekara to the point boundary in the very second ball of the innings while Tendulkar also picked up the bowler for some special treatment by smacking him to the cover boundary.
Tendulkar showed his class when he despatched a slightly fuller length delivery off Kulasekara through the covers to the fence. A few balls later, he picked up a Kulasekara ball from the off stump line and whipped it superbly through midwicket for another boundary. The two experienced batsmen found the runs easy to come by as they took the total to 50 by the end of the 10th over and sought to accelerate the pace of scoring from then on.
Dravid got a reprieve when he was on 24 with Tillakaratne Dilshan dropping a fairly simple catch at gully, Thushara being the unlucky bowler. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakarra introduced Lasith Malinga in the 13th over and Tendulkar greeted him with a glorious back-foot punch to the fence.
Dravid then lifted spinner Ajantha Mendis, who was brought into the attack in the 15th over, for a six but his aggression was short-lived as he was dismissed in the very next over.
The wily Sanath jayasuriya accounted for Dravid’s rather soft dismissal, being caught by Dilshan at the cover region. His knock of 39 contained two boundaries and a six.
Captain Dhoni promoted himself to the number three slot and got into the act almost immediately with a flurry of strokes. The two batsmen kept up the pace of scoring without taking too many risks as they brought about the 100-run partnership to pile up the agony on the hosts. Tendulkar took a single by cutting Mendis to the sweeper cover to notch up his 44th ODI century. After completing the milestone, he raised his arms and looked up to the skies.
Tendulkar has scored nine international centuries since May 2007, and has been dismissed seven times in the 90s.
The hosts finally broke the partnership when Dhoni mistimed his pull shot and Kamdamby took a well-judged catch at the midwicket region, Malinga being the successful bowler. A tired Tendulkar, who called in a runner after suffering from cramps, was dismissed in the fag end of the innings, being trapped leg before wicket by Mendis. His sublime knock of 138 came off just 133 balls and was laced with ten boundaries and a six.
