India seven wickets away from winning Tendulkar's farewell series

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar moved into the home straight of his final lap on Friday, with India close to sweeping West Indies and with it the two-Test series by winning the Wankhede Test in three days.

The day began with cricketing world in the grip of Tendulkar fever. With its favourite son overnight 38*, all Mumbai roads led to the Wankhede Stadium. And though century wishes weren't granted, a 74 enthralled 40,000-odd crowd that almost accompanied Sachin in his emotional walk back into the pavillion.

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But the match wasn't devoid of Indian centurions. Cheteshwar Pujara scored his fifth Test century and Rohit Sharma continued to make rapid strides with his second in as many Tests to take India to 495 - a lead of 313. Shane Shillingford (5 for 179) remained the Caribbean hero with his fifth consecutive five-wicket haul.

  

Tendulkar's 74 and centuries from Rohit and Pujara helped India take a 313-run lead and then reduce WI to 43 for 3 on Day 2 of the Wankhede Test.

The visitors didn't learn from their batting mistakes in the first innings and lost three wickets to finish at 43 for 3 at stumps on Friday, edging closer to another embarrassing defeat.

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But it was Tendulkar who hogged the limelight for the second day running with a sublime knock which included some of his trademark shots, which got rousing cheers from the crowd and a host of VVIPs including Congress vice-President Rahul Gandhi, state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Bollywood superstars Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

Silence descended at the Wankhede when Tendulkar was dismissed when he thick-edged a Narsingh Deonarine delivery to Darren Sammy at first slip. The crowd quickly recomposed itself to give Tendulkar a standing ovation as he trudged off the ground one last time.

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With Pujara playing an ideal second fiddle by rotating the strike, Tendulkar played some delightful strokes that were taken out of the top drawer. His late cut off Shane Shillingford, a backfoot punch through the covers off Tino Best and the drive past Best that brought up his half-century were pure class. It was Tendulkar's 68th Test half-century that came in 91 deliveries.

Best, who first tried to unsettle Tendulkar with bouncers and then with verbal volleys surrendered in the end as he had hands on his knees at the end of one of his overs. It was Tendulkar who gave him a friendly pat on the shoulders probably to remind "who's the boss today".

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The hallmark of Tendulkar's innings was his assured footwork, leaving a lot of fuller deliveries outside the off-stump and getting the body behind the ball while executing those drives. Probably, being pressure-free helped him to go for his shots as each and every stroke - attack or defence were lustily cheered by a vociferous crowd.

Credit should also be given to Pujara, who kept his composure as the atmosphere was very overwhelming and emotionally over-riding too. He nudged around and when he got loose deliveries, he didn't forget to punish them. He played some free flowing drives and never really looked like any sort of trouble. He completed his century with a single off Deonarine as wife Puja applauded from the VIP stands.

The Pujara-Virat Kohli (57) duo added 94 runs in less than 22 overs to maintain a run-rate of above 4.5. Kohli played effortlessly as he reached his 50 in only 53 balls. However, the talented Delhi batsman got a bit bogged down as he could score only seven off his next 24 deliveries before edging one Shillingford ball to Sammy in the slips.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (4) was dismissed cheaply as Best finally struck with the second new ball, getting the Indian captain to edge one to the slip fielder. Rohit hit some elegant strokes but once Ashwin (30) was out after their 44-run stand off only 45 balls, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pragyan Ojha returned in quick succession, he was running out of partners. But Shami's determined effort helped him complete the century.

For West Indies, there wasn't much to write home about save Shillingford's five-wicket haul and Darren Sammy's five catches.

The magnitude of the occasion, in fact, ended up overshadowing the hundreds by Pujara and Rohit. Rohit added 80 runs with number 11 Shami (11) and brought up his century with a six over long on off Marlon Samuels.

With PTI inputs

Source:- IBN