On This Day In 1994: Sachin Tendulkar Brings Up The First Of His 49 ODI Centuries

It was in 1989 against Pakistan at Gujranwala that Sachin Tendulkar made his maiden ODI appearance. Though he turned out as a prolific run-getter, it was not until his 79th ODI that Sachin Tendulkar reached the three-figure mark. Before that, he had 17 half-centuries with 84 as his highest. The batting maestro’s maiden hundred came against Australia today 26 years ago.

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It was the third match of the Singer World Series contested in Sri Lanka where the hosts, India, Australia and Pakistan participated. India and Australia squared off in the third game in which Sachin Tendulkar opened alongside Manoj Prabhakar. In what was a mediocre batting performance by India, Tendulkar held the innings together, sharing a monumental 87-run opened stand with Prabhakar.

Tendulkar was not only the sole batsman to reach three figures for India but also the only one to pass 50 too. The next best was Vinod Kambli, who finished unbeaten at 43 while there were handy contributions from skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, and Prabhakar. Australia’s strike bowler Craig Mcdermott, who was the pick of the bowlers, also took the scalp of Tendulkar when India were at 211 for 110 off 130 deliveries. It helped the men in blue reach a respectable 246.

Sachin Tendulkar delivers a man of the match worth performance:

Australia’s innings was stable for the most part except for a collapse, in the end, guided them to a narrow defeat. From their perspective, the partnership between David Boon and Mark Waugh was the most perspective, adding 67 for the fifth wicket that put their run-chase on track. After their departures, the likes of Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan could not hold their nerve to complete the chase.

Mark Waugh was their top scorer with 61 as Australia lost their last five wickets only for 34 runs to fall 31 short of victory. Sachin Tendulkar bowled three overs and went wicketless while bowling; however, it proved how useful his defiant hundred was in the scheme of things. India went on to win the Singer Cup beating hosts, Sri Lanka in the final.

Sachin went on to score 48 tons more in ODI and became the first to pass the 200-run mark in the format for the first time. He pulled curtains on his career in 2013, ending with 18426 runs in 463 ODIs and 100 international centuries.

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