TENDULKAR FIRST TO BREAK 200-RUN

Tendulkar First To Break 200-Run Barrier In ODI's

               Gwalior:  Never annoy the Master. And that is what the South Africans seemed to have done when they doubted a save by Sachin Tendulkar on the boundary during the close finish in the first one dayer in jaipur on sunday. And they got the reply three days later as a Sachin-storm blew them away on Wednesday.

                 after50 overs and 226 minutes of blast at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, the little champion become the first man to ger a double hundred in One-dayers, returning unbeaten on exactly 200 and helping India post 401 for three.

                He, in the process, went past the highest individual score in ODIs, 194 which was achieved by both Saeed Anwar of Pakistan and Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe.

               Despite a fighting century from AB de Villiers, those mountain of runs proved too much of a climb for the visitors as they crumbled to 248 all out to hand India a 153-run victory. De Villiers returned hut unbeaten on 114 (6x2, 4x13, 101 balls).

            That meant the hosts wrapped up the three-match series with a game yet to be played. The series win also ensured that India retained their No.2 ODI ranking.

            After MS Dhoni opted to bat first, it was a Tendulkar show all the way, The maestro was in silken fouch from the very start with some breathtaking display of willow-sielding at the venue that tends to bring out the best in him -- Tendulkar has played match-winning knocks here during his last two visits, 97 against Pakistan and 100 versus Australia.

          But none can be compared to this one. Pulling, driving, sweeping, cutting... it seemed he was in a different zone. It was a surreal experience for the 30,000 fans.

           Those lucky to be here can now tell their grandchildren that they were there whin Tendulkar was scripting his dream sequence that contained three huge sixes and 25 boundaries and took just 147 balls.

             Suffering from cramps and fatigue in the last minutes of the innings, he managed a single in the final over to reach the coveted mark even as Dhoni when hammer and tongs to heop India cross the 400-mark in ODIs for the third time.

          It wasn't a perfect start for India with dangerman Virendra Sehwag, declared fit to play in the morning, departing early. But with Tendulkar looking infallible,dinesh Karthik proved the ideal foil at the other end and there was no stopping India.

         Growing in confidence in the master's company, Kartik too made the bowlers look ordinary as the duo put on 194 runs for the second wicket. Karthik collected 75 runs off 85 deliveries before holing out to Herschelie Gibbs at me-wicket off Parnell.