Cricket: Tendulkar sets World Cup record

12.55pm

Sachin Tendulkar fell three short of a record fifth World Cup century as India piled on the runs against Sri Lanka in their World Cup Super Six match early today.

India scored 292 for six off 50 overs.

Tendulkar, who broke his own tournament record of 523 runs set in 1996, was caught behind off off-spinner Aravinda de Silva for 97. In combination with Virender Sehwag (66) he put on 153 for the first wicket from 26.3 overs before Sehwag tried to hit Muttiah Muralitharan for his fourth six and was caught for 66.

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya was earlier passed fit after chipping a bone in his left thumb while batting against Australia fast bowler Brett Lee in the last match and the Sri Lankans brought in batsman Jehan Mubarak for Hashan Tillakaratne and pace bowler Prabath Nissanka for Pulasthi Gunaratne. India were unchanged.

The weather in Johannesburg is fine and hot with a 20 percent chance of showers later in the day.

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* Tendulkar pushed the first delivery of the match from Vaas to mid-on and scampered a quick single. At the other end Sehwag struck the first boundary of the morning with a perfectly timed off-drive off Prabath Nissanka then square-cut the fourth ball of the over into the stands for a six.

* Tendulkar stroked his first four, driving Vaas through the covers off the first ball of the fifth over. 28-0, 5 overs.

* Nissanka had a moral victory over Tendulkar, beating the world's premier batsman with a ball which jagged back viciously off the seam. Tendulkar replied with a push to leg for four followed by a straight drive to the fence. In the next over he hit Vaas to midwicket for his fourth boundary. Two more through the covers brought up his 500th run of the tournament.

* Sehwag added to Sri Lanka's misery by taking two boundaries of Nissanka's fourth over. He was replaced by another paceman Dilhara Fernando and Tendulkar upper-cut his third delivery into the stands for six. 70-0, 10 overs.

* After Fernando had conceded two more boundaries to Sehwag in the 12th over, Sri Lanka had last exerted some control with three consecutive maidens - two to Vaas, the top wicket taker in the tournament, and one to Fernando. 84-0, 15 overs.

* Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya introduced his leading bowler Muraltiharan into the attack and the off-spinner conceded only three singles in his first over. Tendulkar brought up his 50 off Fernando, clipping the ball to the midwicket boundary. He was helped by some sloppy fielding by Nissanka who ran over the top of the ball. 110-0, 20 overs.

* Muralitharan was rested after only two overs in favour of Nissanka. Tendulkar greeted him with another perfect off-drive to the boundary, giving the fielders no chance. Sehwag brought up his 50 as India started to accelerate. 136-0, 25 overs.

* Sehwag danced down the pitch to hammer left-arm slow bowler Jayasuriya for two sixes. He tried similar tactics against Muralitharan, who had been re-introduced to the attack after a brief rest, but failed to pick the top-spinner and skied the ball to de Silva in the deep. Tendulkar took a four off Fernando, edging the ball through the vacant slip area. 167-1, 30 overs.

* Ganguly lofted Nissanka over mid-wicket for a mighty six. Jayasuriya introduced his part-time bowlers De Silva and Russel Arnold but India continued to score freely. 194-1, 35 overs.

* Tendulkar, with a century seemingly inevitable, tried to paddle de Silva around the corner. He was caught off bat and glove by a jubiliant Kumar Sangakkara for 97 from 120 balls with seven fours and a six. 219-2, 40 overs.

* Ganguly hit a second six from an Arnold over costing 13 runs. Muralitharan, with outstanding figures of 7-0-22-1, was brought back into the attack in combination with Vaas as Sri Lanka strove to keep the India total to a manageable level.

* Vaas bowled Ganguly for 48 with the fourth ball of the 43rd over. The India captain, whose innings had lasted 53 balls, played a cross-batted shot over a full-pitched delivery which took the off-stump. 250-3, 45 overs.

* Vaas picked up another wicket, bowling Yuvraj Singh for five with another full delivery then Muralitharan bowled Mohammad Kaif for 19 with a ball which bounced off his thigh pad on to the leg stump.

* Dinesh Mongia struck a straight six off Muralitharan but fell attempting the same shot, caught by de Silva for nine. Muralitharan finished with three for 46 from his 10 overs.

Teams:

India - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly (captain), Mohammad Kaif, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra.

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Jehan Mubarak, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Prabath Nissanka.

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