Sachin Tendulkar broke the record for the highest limited-overs international score with the first ODI double century, laying a platform of a resounding victory over South Africa at Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior. Despite AB de Villiers\' unbeaten 114, the visitors did not come near a mammoth total of 401 and lost the three-match series 2-0.
Tendulkar\'s wonderful act was always going to be difficult to follow, but de Villiers made a fair fist of it despite receiving little support. After Hashim Amla had continued his superb tour with a 22-ball 34, laced with seven boundaries, India\'s bowlers chipped away regularly, leaving the visitors tangled at 105 for 6 in the first fifteen overs. Sreesanth took two wickets, and Yusuf Pathan continued JP Duminy\'s misery. The pinch-hitters and regular batsmen failed, leaving Mark Boucher and Wayne Parnell to stoically block while de Villiers fought on.
De Villiers\' fifth century came in just 86 balls, but he received minimal support in a lost cause, with Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja especially proving hard to get away. The middle-order batsmen finished with thirteen fours and two sixes, but the visitors were bowled out to a 153-run thrashing, with 45 balls remaining in the innings.
The highlight, of course, was Tendulkar\'s masterclass. The enthusiastic maestro seems to improve with age, and his score broke the 13-year record of Pakistan\'s Saeed Anwar, against India in Cehnnai, as well as Zimbabwe\'s Charles Coventry, who hit his century in a losing cause against Bangladesh last year. Tendulkar peeled off the runs with startling finesse and aplomb, maintaining a fleeting strike-rate throughout. With MS Dhoni finally winning a toss in perfect batting conditions, Tendulkar took full toll.
Keeper-batsmen Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni added explosive fifties, but the darling of the crowd was Tendulkar, who struck 25 fours and three sixes in his record-breaking knock. Wayne Parnell\'s two wickets cost a massive 95 runs, and in between Karthik (79) shared 194 with Tendulkar, scoring three sixes and four fours.
Tendulkar\'s typical shots, the wristy flick to the on side, the flamboyant cut and the unfussy drives, were on show, and the South Africa seamers were carved to ribbons. It gave Yusuf Pathan an ideal situation as pinch-hitter, from where he thumped 36 off 23, and even Dhoni\'s brutal, violent 68 off just 35 balls, finishing the innings with a crescendo of thumping boundaries, was overshadowed by Tendulkar\'s record. Dhoni bludgeoned seven fours and four sixes, with 115 runs coming off the last ten overs, but even that was outdne by Tendulkar\'s limited-overs masterclass.
