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BANGALORE: Sachin Tendulkar smashed his 47th one-day international century to take India to a commanding total of 338 against England in their Group B World Cup match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
The 37-year-old's flawless 120 was studded with 10 fours and five sixes – two of them off consecutive Graeme Swann deliveries – and by the time he left in the 39th over with the score on 236, he had set the perfect launch pad for India's big-hitting middle order.
Gautam Gambhir (51), Yuvraj Singh (58) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31) also chipped in with useful scores.
However, India were bowled out with one ball left of their allotted 50 overs as they tried to score quick runs towards the end of their innings.
India got off to a flyer with Virender Sehwag, who showed no signs of discomfort from his rib injury, scoring a typically brisk 35 featuring six boundaries and four half-chances, including three in the first over of the match.
England skipper Andrew Strauss' frequent bowling changes were ineffective as their attack, which leaked 91 runs in the last 10 overs, sorely missed the service of the in-form Stuart Broad, who had to sit out the match due to an upset stomach.
Although Tim Bresnan took a career-best five for 48, four of them were claimed in the last five overs as the Indian batsmen were looking to score as many runs as possible.
India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Piyush Chawla, Munaf Patel.
England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Ajmal Shahzad, James Anderson.
Scoreboard:
India innings
V. Sehwag c Prior b Bresnan 35 S. Tendulkar c Yardy b Anderson 120 G. Gambhir b Swann 51 Yuvraj Singh c Bell b Yardy 58 M. Dhoni c sub (Wright) b Bresnan 31 Y. Pathan c Swann b Bresnan 14 V. Kohli b Bresnan 8 Harbhajan Singh lbw b Bresnan 0 Z. Khan run out (Prior/Strauss) 4 P. Chawla run out (Anderson) 2 M. Patel not out 0
Extras (lb-3 w-7 nb-5) 15
Total (all out; 49.5 overs) 338
Fall of wickets: 1-46 2-180 3-236 4-305 5-305 6-327 7-327 8-328 9-338 10-338
Bowling: Anderson 9.5-0-91-1 (1nb 1w), Shahzad 8-0-53-0 (2w), Bresnan 10-1-48-5, Swann 9-1-59-1 (2w), Collingwood 3-0-20-0, Yardy 10-0-64-1 (2w).
