Tendulkar, rain hold up South Africa - Indian master hits record 50th Test century

CENTURION, South Africa (AP): Sachin Tendulkar's record 50th Test century and the unpredictable high veld weather held up South

Africa's charge toward victory late on day four of the first Test against India at Centurion yesterday.

Tendulkar became the first player to the mark with his sublime 107 not out as India reached 454-8 in their second innings when play was halted 50 minutes early because of strong winds at the SuperSport Park ground and an approaching thunderstorm. It left the visiting team 30 runs short of South Africa's mammoth first-innings total of 620-4 declared.

Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (90) had led a gritty fightback for top-ranked India with a 172-run partnership after they had slipped to 277-6 at lunch on day four, chasing the home team's huge total.

India was bowled out for 136 in their first innings and went on to surrender a 484-run first-innings lead. But, Tendulkar and Dhoni appeared on course to make South Africa bat again before the late wickets of Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh left the tourists hanging on.

Tendulkar stroked 12 fours and a six in 197 balls for his milestone century in his 175th match - and wrestled back some pride for India.

"It's wonderful that it's come in this manner. But, in whichever manner it comes I would have welcomed it," he said. "It was extremely important for us to come back strong and send a strong message. I think we've been able to do that."

14 fours

Dhoni had battered 14 fours - and a 40-ball half-century - on the way to 90 from just 106 balls as the pair raised slim hopes that India could save the three-Test series opener.

But South Africa were suddenly on the brink of victory late in the final session when Dhoni edged a rising delivery from Dale Steyn (3-103) to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and Harbhajan was out to spinner Paul Harris (2-88) five balls later.

The weather also turned suddenly late in the afternoon as umbrellas were blown out of their stands and the players scurried from the pitch - with just enough time for the crowd to applaud the 37-year-old Tendulkar off the pitch.

He ended the day 107 not out from 226 balls, with 14 boundaries - his seventh century this year. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was on three not out.

Tendulkar had caressed a drive through extra-cover for a single soon after tea to move to his 50th 100, 20 years after his first as a 17-year-old versus England in 1990. He is 11 hundreds ahead of his nearest challenger, Australia's Ricky Ponting.

He had also reached 14,500 Test runs - over 2,000 more than Ponting in second place - when he went to 99 in the same over off Steyn, before his century gave India a significant moment in what is likely to be a heavy defeat in the series opener.

Tendulkar marked the moment with a low punch in the air and then removed his helmet to glance up at the sky before acknowledging the crowd's applause.

"I'm OK," he said. "It's just another number for me. It's nice. Obviously, I can't say that I'm not happy. I'm happy, but I don't know how to express this. I'm just happy.

Continuation

"It's good that it's come. Hopefully it doesn't stop there, it just continues."

No 2-ranked South Africa appeared destined for a dominant victory on the fourth day of their contest against the world's top team as India lost four wickets in the first session to slip from 190-2 overnight to 277-6 at lunch.

Ishant Sharma fell to Steyn after a sharp catch by Hashim Amla at short leg and then Rahul Dravid (43), VVS Laxman (8) and Suresh Raina (5) were out in quick succession. India limped to the interval 207 runs behind.

Dravid had reached exactly 12,000 Test runs, only the third man to do so, before he was beaten by Morne Morkel and edged a catch to Boucher and began a mini-collapse as India lost three wickets for 35 runs in 13 overs.

"I think we bowled pretty well today," Harris said. "We expected it to be a hard day. That's what it was, it was proper Test cricket today. That partnership between Dhoni and Tendulkar was a good one for India and they showed the fight that we expected them to show.

"It's a pity about the rain, we couldn't finish it off today, but hopefully we can come back tomorrow and do it pretty quickly."