Lara has his 400*, now Sachin has his 200*. Both are great players, with hardly anything to choose between them. Lara maybe holds an edge in Test matches on account of his 300+ scores and his 400, Sachin now holds the same edge in ODIs on account of his 150+ scores and his 200*. How fitting that these two guys should have the highest scores in the 2 formats!

Sachin’s innings was breathtaking, I have seen lots of Sachin innings, but I have never seen him treat bowlers with such disdain for an entire innings. Steyn, the best fast bowler around, was manhandled in the 35th over. He bowled couple of full balls way outside off, and the next ball Sachin just walked/hopped across and creamed a similar delivery to mid wicket for four. The look on Steyn’s face said it all… today was Sachin’s day and Sachin’s day only.

There were 25 fours and some sixes as well, inside out hits over cover of balls outside leg stump to fast bowlers, fours and sixes over mid wicket of balls way outside off, pin point placement through the ring of fielders in covers and point region. He was simply toying with the South African bowling, which is probably the best in the world right now.

On Feb 24 in 1988 Sachin and Kambli set a world record with an unbeaten partnership of 664 runs, in 2010 22 years later Sachin is still setting World Records and batting with the same boyish energy and enthusiasm. He is really just one in a Billion!

PS: Last 12 months have seen scores of 163, 175, 200. Sachin did well in 1996 (India reached semi final), 2003 (India reached final) World Cups, and did not do so well in 1992, 1999 and 2007. World No 1 ranking has been achieved in Tests. Sachin badly wants a World Cup win. I think other teams who want to win the 2011 World Cup need to be worried, very very worried. Its time for Sachin to do well in a world cup and win it!

“A man may labour for a professional lifetime, especially in sport or battle, but posterity needs a single transcendental event to fix him in permanent memory. Every man must be a Wellington on the right side of his personal Waterloo; detractors will argue for ever about the general quality of your life and work but they can never erase an event.” — Stephen Jay Gould, the American scientist.

South Africa failed to step up yet again and create a transcendental event that would have made them No 1. On the other hand India produced a clinical and a totally professional performance to stay on the top. South Africa had their chance on day 1, they won the toss and batted first and were sitting pretty by tea. But they lost their way after tea, on the other hand India courtesy Bhajji and Zaheer stepped up and got India an upper hand.

In India’s first innings, Gambhir and Vijay got out cheaply but Sehwag and Tendulkar batted with a ruthlessness rarely shown by Proteas. A singular incident comes to mind from this innings, Morkel stared at Tendulkar who was not yet reached double figures. Tendulkar, normally not known to say too much, stared back and said something to the effect of  ’go back and just bowl’… he was in mood and so was Sehwag. Together they methodically dismantled the South African bowling, Steyn stopped swinging the ball, Harris stopped turning. Well Harris had just said too much before this match, ‘ South African spinners need to be respected etc’. Sehwag and Tendulkar are known for demolishing spinners, it is essentially an insult to them to give any respect to Harris. They took India past South African total comfortably, and just when South Africa thought they could come back in the match, Laxman and Dhoni batted them out of it. Laxman just showed why South Africa was able to dominate in the first Test, he and Dravid were missing.

In their second innings South Africans got a big help from the weather yet they could not step up and save the game. India even without their best bowler, Zaheer Khan, just carried on like business as usual. Mishra and Harbhajan shouldered most of the responsibility and workload with Ishant also bowling well. India bowled with just 3 bowlers for an entire day and got the required results, while the South African middle order of Prince, Duminy and de Villiers failed to even put up a fight.

South Africa may have drawn the series but India played the first Test with essentially 4 batters, and finished the second match with 3 bowlers. Yet India got the desired result and will finish on top of the Test Rankings. South Africa on the other hand are left to rue their chances for second year running. Its not enough to win matches to be No 1, you need to grab the big moments and win when it really matters. Australia do that consistently, India is getting there, but South Africa have never done it and may never will…

Mahela Jayawardene (108) and Upul Tharanga (118 not out) cracked sparkling centuries as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets to storm into the final of the tri-series on Friday.

Chasing a modest 250 for a win, Jayawardene and Tharanga tore apart the Bangladesh bowlers to canter to the target with 7.1 overs to spare at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Earlier, Bangladesh put up a shoddy batting display coming up with a modest score of 249 for nine with captain Shakib Al Hasan top-scoring with 47 after being put into bat in front of 10,000-odd spectators.

Sri Lanka’s win not only booked them a berth in the January 13 final but they have also almost shut the final match door on the hosts.

If Bangladesh, who have a negative net run rate (-0.626) after losing all three games, are to qualify for the final, they will have to beat India by a huge margin and pray that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men lose heavily against the islanders on Sunday.

Jayawardene, who hit his 12th ODI hundred, was dismissed in the 38th over when the match was all over in his side’s favour at 215 for one. He smashed 13 fours in his 117-ball innings.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored an unbeaten century as India overcame a top-order fumble to beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the third ODI of the tri-series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur on Thursday.

India, chasing a stiff victory target of 297 runs, lost three wickets for 51 runs before skipper Dhoni (101) and Virat Kohli (91) revived the innings with a 152-run stand.

Kohli missed out on his second ODI century as he was caught and bowled by skipper Shakib Al Hasan. Dhoni then anchored the innings and together with Suresh Raina (51) saw the team home in 47.3 overs.

Bangladesh gave a good account of themselves, first by scoring their highest total against any Test playing nation, and then had India on the mat removing Virender Sehwag (13), Gautam Gambhir (18) and Yuvraj Singh (1). But the depth in Indian batting came through.

Kohli, who scored his maiden century, a match-winning knock, last month in the Kolkata ODI against Sri Lanka, was full of confidence. He showed maturity and mixed patience with aggression.

With Dhoni at the other end, Kohli played his strokes without taking much risk.

Kohli struck seven fours in his 102-ball stay while Dhoni’s 107-ball knock had nine fours.

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England’s last-wicket pair dramatically saved the third Test against South Africa by surviving the last 17 balls.

The tourists appeared to be coasting through Ian Bell (78) and Paul Collingwood (40), but five wickets tumbled in 64 balls of high tension.

But after Graeme Swann had seen off six balls of Dale Steyn, number 11 Graham Onions heroically did the same to the final over, bowled by Morne Morkel.

England ended on 296-9 to keep their 1-0 series lead with one game left.

But the draw tasted just as good as a win for the large contingent of England supporters who had escaped freezing Britain for some South African sunshine – and got considerably more than they had bargained for.

For much of the day it appeared that the four-hour partnership between Bell and Collingwood would take the sting out of the final exchanges of the Test.

But the unexpected serenity which England’s sixth-wicket pair had brought to proceedings quickly evaporated when Collingwood edged JP Duminy to slip.

Amazingly, Collingwood had been given out first ball by Tony Hill – but thanks to the referral system won a crucial reprieve. He and England capitalised to deny South Africa a victory they sweated blood for, but just could not achieve.

Collingwood’s fans had twice seen him help save Tests in recent times. In the Ashes Test in Cardiff he had batted for 344 minutes on the final day, and he also stood firm at Centurion in the first match of this series while wickets tumbled at the other end. Both those matches had required England’s number 11 to withstand the final few deliveries – and it was no different here.

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Haddin: "We knew today, if we had got to 150, we could run it close. The boys did a great job and Hauritz bowled well, Siddle stuck it out there and he supported Hussey well".

Hughes: "To get a win first game after coming back to the team, is exciting, Hussey was excellent and Hauritz bowled well"

Yousuf: "We are disappointed, they batted well in the second innings, everyone tried hard, 175 was chaseable, one has to be positive and we should have won it. Siddle batted well and was inspiring. We surely will try our best for the next Test at Hobbart."

Ponting: "The wicket was challenging and the way the guys struck out was wonderful, the first half an hour would have told the story, how the game was going. we held on to our catches and the boys bowled well. Yousuf’s wicket was massive and Haddin’s catch was excellent, once we exposed the Pakistan tail the game was over. A great win for us and the boys will celebrate. Not many changes at Hobart and all of guys were terrific."

Hussey Man-of-the-Match: "Not finished as a Test cricketer, Siddle showed character and application.It is hard to think where to place this 100. It is hard to score a century, I will cherish this 100. In the first innings the pitch was difficult to bat on, it played well today. 175 was a tricky target, we were able to pick up quick wickets and that put them on the backfoot."

Spinner Nathan Hauritz ripped through the Pakistan tail as Australia bowled out the tourists for 139 to seal a stunning victory in the second Test.

The hosts began the day looking doomed to defeat, 80 ahead with only two second-innings wickets remaining.

But Michael Hussey hit an unbeaten 134 to set a victory target of 176.

Hauritz then took 5-53 as Australia avoided a first Test loss to Pakistan since 1995 despite conceding a 206-run first-innings deficit in Sydney.

The victory means Australia take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the final Test at Hobart, starting on 13 January.

Pakistan had won only 11 of 54 Tests against Australia, just four of those victories coming away from home.

Their last victory – home or away – came 15 years ago in Sydney.

Incredibly, Hauritz and Hussey, with able support from Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, ensured Pakistan’s miserable run continued.

Shane Watson had fallen for 97 on the third day, his runs ensuring Australia at least had something to bowl at, but the combination of Hussey and Siddle proved crucial on the fourth morning.

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Thilan Samaraweera’s second ODI century and Thissara Perera’s gem of a cameo tilted the balance as India slumped to a five-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in their tri-series opener on Tuesday.

Defending a 279-run total, India fancied their chances in their first outing of the new year but the 122-run stand between Samaraweera (105 not out off 106 balls) and Kumar Sangakkara (60), followed by Perera’s breathtaking unbeaten 15-ball 36 turned the match on its head.

The spirited Lankans cruised to 283 for five in 48 overs and their second successive win in the tournament would be some solace for the islanders who had lost both the Test and ODI series in India before coming to this tournament.

Put into bat, India earlier rode on fit-again Yuvraj Singh’s well-paced 74 to recover from a top-order wobble to post a competitive 279 for nine.

Virender Sehwag (47), MS Dhoni (37), Suresh Raina (35) and Ravindra Jadeja (39) chipped in with useful cameos but India missed the 300-mark, managing just 20 runs from the last five overs and that proved costly in the end.

Chasing 280 for a win, Sri Lanka got off to a brisk start and Sangakkara and Samaraweera raised 122 runs at a rapid clip to prop up the innings.

With Tillakaratne Dilshan nursing a groin injury, Lahiru Thirumanne (22) had the opener’s role thrust on him in his debut match and the youngster calmed his nerves with three fours off S Sreesanth’s first over.

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