KOLKATA, Nov 25: South Africa captain Graeme Smith stroked a career-best 134 not out from 124 balls to help his side crush India by 10 wickets in the fourth one-dayer on Friday.

Smith’s fifth one-day hundred powered his team to 189 for no loss with 14.1 overs to spare after the South Africans had dismissed their hosts for 188.

The Proteas went 2-1 up in the five-match series, the third game having been washed out.

The left-handed Smith struck 20 fours and a six, dominating his opening partnership with Andrew Hall who scored 48 not out following bowling figures of three for 36 in the Indian innings.

Smith surpassed his previous highest score of 117 against Zimbabwe this year, demoralising the Indian bowlers with his command over pace and spin at the Eden Gardens ground.

Fast bowler Shaun Pollock triggered an Indian collapse in mildly seaming conditions, claiming three for 25 and dismissing Sachin Tendulkar for two runs on the Indian batsman’s record 357th one-day appearance.

Tendulkar, 32, passed former Pakistan all rounder Wasim Akram as the most-capped one-day player, but tamely edged a catch to the wicketkeeper after facing 15 balls.

Smith won a crucial toss to help his bowlers avoid problems of gripping the wet ball due to heavy dew on the pitch in the evening.

He hit a flurry of early fours off Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan, playing fluently past cover and mid-wicket to reach a run-a-ball fifty.

Smith lofted off spinner Harbhajan Singh for a straight six and hammered Agarkar for three fours in one over to reach the 90s before driving Virender Sehwag’s to the cover boundary to reach his hundred.

India never really recovered after Pollock left them reeling at 71 for five. Pollock struck in his first over when Pathan, surprisingly asked to open instead of Tendulkar, played on to his stumps for nought.

He then removed Tendulkar and opener Gautam Gambhir (11), who edged to slip, before fellow seamer Hall had Virender Sehwag (30) caught behind and Charl Langeveldt bowled captain Rahul Dravid (6).

Yuvraj Singh top-scored with 53, his 20th one-day fifty, and added 81 runs for the sixth wicket with Mohammed Kaif (46) to lend some respectability to the total.

Scoreboard

India

G. Gambhir c Smith b Pollock 11

I. Pathan b Pollock 0

S. Tendulkar c Boucher b Pollock 2

V. Sehwag c Boucher b Hall 30

R. Dravid b Langeveldt 6

Y. Singh lbw b Botha 53

M. Kaif c Smith b Nel 46

M. Dhoni c Botha b Hall 14

A. Agarkar b Kallis 11

H. Singh lbw b Hall 0

R. Singh not out 1

Extras (lb-5 nb-1 w-8) 14

Total (all out, 45.5 overs) 188

Fall of wkts: 1-2 2-14 3-23 4-49 5-71 6-152 7-167 8-187 9-187 10-188

Bowling: S. Pollock 10-4-25-3 (w-3); A. Nel 10-1-35-1 (w-1); A. Hall 6.5-0-36-3 (w-3); C. Langeveldt 8-1-33-1 (w-1); J. Kallis 4-0-20-1 (nb-1); J. Botha 5-0-21-1; A. Morkel 2-0-13-0

South Africa

G. Smith not out 134

A. Hall not out 48

Extras (nb-3 w-4) 7

Total (for no loss, 35.5 overs) 189

Did not bat: J. Kallis, A. Prince, M. Boucher, J. Kemp, C. Langeveldt, S. Pollock, J. Botha, R. Peterson, A. Morkel

Bowling: A. Agarkar 5-0-41-0 (nb-2 w-2); I. Pathan 6-0-28-0; R. Singh 4-0-18-0 (w-1); H. Singh 10-0-37-0; M. Kartik 8-1-52-0 (nb-1); V. Sehwag 2.5-0-13-0 (w-1).—Reuters

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