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Australia v India, 4th Test, Adelaide, 1st day
A new high for Tendulkar
S Rajesh
January 24, 2008
Stats highlights from the first day of the fourth Test in Adelaide.
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Sachin Tendulkar has topped 450 for the first time in a Test series
© AFP
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Sachin Tendulkar finished the day on a glittering unbeaten 124, which is his 39th hundred, and his 88th score of more than 50, second only to Allan Border's 90. While Border played 265 innings, Tendulkar has played just 236. (Click here for the list of batsmen with most number of 50-plus scores in Tests.)
The hundred also lifted his aggregate in the series to 451, which is the first time he has topped 450 in a single series. His previous highest was also against Australia, at home nearly ten years back, when he destroyed Shane Warne on the way to scoring 446 in the three-Test series.
It was Tendulkar's sixth hundred in Australia, and his 11th 50-plus score in 29 Test innings in the country, where he averages 61.66. He has also scored 1480 runs in Australia, which is the highest by an Indian in an overseas country, beating Sunil Gavaskar's 1404 in the West Indies.
Tendulkar was fairly comfortable against all the Australian bowlers, but his runs came mainly off the slow bowlers. Against Brad Hogg and Michael Clarke, Tendulkar creamed 77 runs from 75 balls; against the three fast bowlers he was far more watchful, scoring just 47 from 97. He was most circumspect against Brett Lee, managing just 16 from 43.
Hogg may have struggled against Tendulkar, but he clearly has Sourav Ganguly's number. In this series, Ganguly has fallen to him four times, scoring 93 in 140 deliveries, for an average of 23.25 against Hogg. Against the other bowlers, Ganguly averages 124 in this series.
VVS Laxman continued his excellent run against Australia, and at the Adelaide Oval. This was his 13th 50-plus score versus Australia, against whom he averages 51.74 overall, and 56.26 in Australia. In four Test innings at the Adelaide Oval, Laxman has scored 272 runs at an average of 54.40.
S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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